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THE DIMINISHING BORDER BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND JOURNALISM IN ESTONIA

The border between journalism and advertising in contemporary Estonian media is being increasingly blurred as a consequence of rapid commercialisation. The aim of this paper is to analyse this “blurring” in the context of a small media market where editorial resources are limited and the capital costs of media products are high. The study draws on interviews with journalists and editors, journalists’ questionnaire responses and textual analysis of news media contents. The different media of newspapers, magazines, television, and radio view this distinction between promotional material and independent journalistic production in contrasting ways; even particular newspapers display differing attitudes. Media organisations, moreover, openly declare an ideology that is contrary to the logic of economics. Hence, the complex process of the diminution of the border is hidden from public view but should not simply be reduced, as is frequently the case, to a matter of unethical journalistic behaviour.