Part
01
of two
Part
01
Mass media access: Europe (1)
There are many areas of Europe that do not have access to mass media, including radio and television. We selected the Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Macedonia because statistics show that more than half of the population do not have any access to a TV in these countries and less than half of the population do not have any access to the internet. The internet has the highest penetration compared to other media in all 3 countries. Although we can provide the figures per radio, TV and internet access per country, it is not possible to triangulate a final mass media access figure as information is not publicly available. In Bulgaria, ranges of mass media are from 40%-60% depending on the type of media. Additionally, Montenegro and Macedonia range from 25%-62% and 20%-69%, respectively.
FINDINGS
Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Macedonia are chosen for this study since these 3 countries are listed in the top 10 poorest countries in Europe based on their GDP per capita and experiencing economic hardships.
Due to the poorness of the countries, radio, television, and internet are considered luxury services and are not readily available. While Bulgaria has recovered better than many countries its economy still is not as robust. The Montenegro GDP is gradually improving but still considered one of the poorest. 72% of Macedonians are just barely making ends meet and mass media is not an option for them.
Media coverage for these countries includes newspapers, TV, radio, and internet. I could not find the latest data regarding the exposure of television and radio and newspapers but I was able to get an updated data of the internet penetration of these 3 European countries. I have compiled figures for TV & Radio access and internet access per country.
Bulgaria
(60% without newspaper)
(41.49% without a radio)
TV reach: 42.5 %
(57.5% does not have access to TV)
(41.5% of the population do not have access or use internet)
MONTENEGRO
(70.5% without a radio)
(74.24% does not have access to TV)
(38% of the population do not have access or use internet)
MACEDONIA
(79.96% without a radio)
(75.08% does not have access to TV)
(30.8% of the population do not have access or use internet)
The share of Bulgaria population that uses the internet is 58.5 % as of 2016. It means 41.5% of the population do not have access or use the internet. In Montenegro, the population that uses the internet is 62% as of 2016. It means that 38% of the population do not have access or use the internet. And in Macedonia, the share of the population that uses the internet is 69.2% as of 2016. It means that 30.8% of the population do not have access or use the internet.
CONCLUSION
Despite the limited capabilities of internet archiving, we were able to locate the penetration of media for each of the countries selected. Bulgaria has penetration levels between 40%-60% depending on the type of media. Montenegro has between 25% and 62% penetration rates based on the type of media and Macedonia has between 20%-69% depending on the type of media. Unfortunately, data on who these people are and why they have no access to mass media is publicly unavailable. As some categories overlap it was difficult to triangulate final figures for television and internet access as is the same for those who may not have access to radio but do have access to television or internet.