exploring LT media in a global context

Egle | LT summary

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:31:00 -0400

I started this project not entirely sure where it would take me. Originally, I wanted to focus on Lithuania’s obsession with Basketball and various reality shows. However, I soon realized that my interests would not be fruitful enough to make for a media project. And so, after searching and sifting through the dark corners of the Bobst’s online catalog, I found out about creative industries in Lithuania. The efforts made by the Baltic states at reviving various artistic endeavours are admirable. I also learned about the way media functions in my country. I was quite satisfied to know that freedom of the press is highly respected there. I was also proud to learn that Lithuania was the first country to gain the status of “free” after the Soviet Union dismembered, and the only country to remain so since then. It was also a bit sad to learn that young people are leaving this Baltic baby, but it makes sense to me as to why.

One of the most interesting realizations I came to from doing this project was that although Lithuania has a unique culture and a lot of national pride, the media is totally imperialized. Before this project, it meant nothing to me that I watched Cartoon Network and MTV. In fact, I was quite proud because I could relate to some aspects of American culture when I finally came to the States. Now I understand that the reason behind this was that entertainment media production in Lithuania is practically non-existent. Not only is the production value low, the quality of the content is generally poor. I didn’t understand before that such cultural imperialism would ignite resentment for one’s own country. Truly, seeing how “wonderful” other countries are, as portrayed by their media products, makes one discouraged about his or her own living situation. When reading the Dallas study, I realized that often, even if there are various shows or movies about a location, they can never paint the picture accurately. Therefore, Lithuanians are flooded with wonderful depictions of foreign places, and the media produced by their own country is mostly news - usually about how corrupt their own government is. And so, visiting foreign places by means of their TV screens is an escape for many Lithuanians.

Another topic I started thinking a lot more about because of this project is my own culture. As feedback for one of my previous blog entries, I was asked the question of how did I think growing up in Lithuania shaped my views on this topic. As a child, I never much thought about realistically visiting other places. I loved Lithuania and was happy living there. Having family in nearly every region, I knew this country quite well. Also, my mom had visited the United States twice before I flew over here. She sent us back Barbie dolls and I remember, upon receiving one of these, asking my dad, “Do they have Barbies in America?” He replied saying, “Yeah! They have everything!” From then on I assumed USA was one big bazaar-type outdoor marketplace. In many ways, I wasn’t too far off. Either way, my views on Lithuania were entirely incomplete until I left the country. I’m grateful to have gotten the chance to look at my roots from a safe and more critical distance.

During the research phase of this, I was surprised (but at the same time not at all) by the information I found. Knowing of Lithuanians’ obsession with basketball, I was hoping to do research about that. However, in such a small country, academic media analysis and research is by no means plentiful. At the same time, however, when it came time to look for specific media samples for my presentation, nearly every search yielded something basketball related. I thought that was funny. Most of the other search results turned up articles about the Lithuanian language, which is a very interesting topic, but not what I was looking for for this project. Lastly, searching for media examples from the times of the Soviet Union to now was definitely a journey. This should have been obvious to me, but I didn’t realize that before Lithuania became a free country, media was not allowed to be produced. Very few people had television sets - most listening to the radio for their news and entertainment. Even after the breakaway, there was only one Lithuanian broadcasting company - that of the government. The other three television channels were Russian.

Anyway, if I had to do this project over again, I don’t think I would do very many things differently. There wasn’t a lot of material to work with, so I did the best I could. I was also very grateful for my group. We got along very well because of similar opinions, as well as similar work ethic. I guess, if I could do the presentation over again, I would have gone over it again with team. And it would have been nice to have time to set up before starting, instead of wrestling with the monitor. I’m not sure how, if at all, I could extend this research in the future. However, I do think it will be interesting to go back to Lithuania and pay attention to all the things I’ve learned about in this class. I will never be able to look at culture, media, or government the same way again. I’m keenly aware of McDonaldization here in the States, and I can’t wait to observe the effects it’s had overseas.
One of the most interesting realizations I came to from doing this project was that although Lithuania has a unique culture and a lot of national pride, the media is totally imperialized. Before this project, it meant nothing to me that I watched Cartoon Network and MTV. Now I understand that the reason behind this was that entertainment media production in Lithuania is practically non-existent. Not only is the production value low, the quality of the content is generally poor. I didn’t understand before that such cultural imperialism would ignite resentment for one’s own country. Truly, seeing how “wonderful” other countries are, as portrayed by their media products, makes one discouraged about his or her own living situation. When reading the Dallas study, I realized that often, even if there are various shows or movies about a location, they can never paint the picture accurately. Therefore, Lithuanians are flooded with wonderful depictions of foreign places, and the media produced by their own country is mostly news -

Petra/Croatia: Team Research: Transitions of Media Journalism in Lithuania, Czech Republic and Croatia.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:22:53 -0400

Petra/Croatia: Team Research: Transitions of Media Journalism in Lithuania, Czech Republic and Croatia.:

croatianmedia:

The first time our group met, we discussed our interests for choosing the countries we did. Our experiences with the culture, both living in the countries and interacting with the people, were our primary foundations in picking Lithuania, Czech Republic, and Croatia. As we individually performed…

Egle | Lithuania Literature Review

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:37:59 -0500

Finding articles for this assignment was definitely not what I would call easy. At first, I spent hours browsing through search results on the media database EBSCO. With only one fruitful lead, I dove in to extract any cultural relevance I could find. Eventually, after hours of sifting through unrelated articles, I decided to search all databases for “Lithuania” and “creative.” Lo and behold, I found the two more articles that I needed. Here is what I learned:

In the article titled “Qualitative Analysis of Psychosocial Factors of Student Intentions to Emigrate or Plan Their Future in Lithuania,” the author discusses migration trends and motivations amongst young (college-aged) Lithuanians. This is a pressing topic for Lithuanian culture and industry because Lithuania has one of the highest emigration rates in all of Europe, higher even than countries of similar location and economic conditions. While this is alarming, about 71% of all immigrants are returning Lithuanians, therefore making their motivations all the more interesting. The study found that there are four basic factors at play: cultural, economic, social, and psychological.³ This seems quite obvious to me, and after reading the article I realized that there is something the author was missing. The thread here is that Lithuanians are seeking adventure and new experiences when they leave. Why? Lithuania is one of the most homogenous countries in its region. This explain why the youth are bored. The lack of variety in heritage makes them thirsty for exploration – and who can blame them?

However, among the students who were interviewed that were inclined to stay, there was a great deal of patriotism. I expect that this pride in one’s country will interact with the introduction and development of the creative industries in Lithuania. One of the articles, “The Role of Creative Industries in International Trade: Lithuanian Case” details the ways in which globalization and international trade have affected Lithuania’s creative sector.² While Lithuanian creative exports have increased significantly, imports have surpassed exports due to the agreements outlined between the European Union and Lithuania. Perhaps a way to accelerate creative production would be to stop romanticizing the notion of “Art for art’s sake,” as outlined by “The Paradigm of Understanding Lithuanian Creative Industries,” and instead embracing new definitions of art. Among these are media and interactive/technology-driven creative products that appeal and are understood by more people than the elite art community. The article discusses how this old-school ideal of art is getting in the way of economic growth in this sector, but is difficult to shift due to the fact that this attitude is ingrained in everyone, from consumers to artists to teachers.¹

Personally, I think it may be too soon to be making these attacks at the Lithuanian population. As both articles about creative industries mention, the very concept of a “creative industry” is new in Lithuania. It is quite likely that peoples’ opinions will shift as they adopt new definitions for art and creativity, ones that extend to media and even advertising. This will surely cause another growth spurt in the creative sector of Lithuania’s economy. Along with that, this paradigm shift will also hopefully help Lithuania retain its youth, who seem to think that their time would be better spent abroad. Not only that, but if Lithuania sees media and popular art as “art,” they will hopefully be more interested in the opportunities available in that sector. And in fact, attitudes in America and Lithuania regarding creativity are quite different. My friends who are in film school, here in the States, view their roles as those of story tellers, as those of people who can really shape a generation and make a difference with a great film. Lithuanians produce very few films, to my knowledge have no film or media programs, and look to imports for many of their media needs. However, Lithuania is has plenty of art schools, where students can master technique and be reinforced in their romanticized visions of art. As globalization (or glocalization) is becoming a stronger force in the world, perhaps an overlooked region is Eastern Europe. Lithuania has great potential because it has plenty of technological resources, the will to succeed as an economy, and an untapped market of creative and talented people.

1- Cerneviciute, Jurate. “Kurybiniu Industriju Raida Ir Meno Komunikacijos Samprata Lietuvoje. (Lithuanian) : The Development of Creative Industries and the Conception of Art Communication in Lithuania. (English).” Filosofija.Sociologija 2009.3 (2009): 203-12. Print.

2- Snieska, Vytautas. “THE ROLE OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE : LITHUANIAN CASE.” Economics Management 16 (2011): 338-44. Print.

3- Tiskute, Asta. “KOKYBINE STUDENTU KETINIMO EMIGRUOTI ARBA PLANUOTI SAVO ATEITI LIETUVOJE SOCIALINIU IR PSICHOLOGINIU VEIKSNIU ANALIZE. (Lithuanian) : QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS OF STUDENT INTENTIONS TO EMIGRATE OR PLAN THEIR FUTURE IN LITHUANIA. (English).” Socialinis darbas 10.2 (2011): 365-76. Print.

Egle | Overview of Lithuania, Eastern Europe

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:02:00 -0500

Lithuania, as a post-Soviet country, has made many astonishing leaps in the economic sector, which has allowed Lithuanian media to flourish. Following the country’s emancipation, the government established a number of media regulating policies. More specifically, the Lithuanian constitution honors freedom of speech and press, and protects media spheres from monopolies, while limiting governmental censorship. However, as in most nations around the world, in wartime some of these rights and regulations may be suspended.¹

These laws have laid a great foundation for the country’s post-communist, initial rapid expansion and eventual stabilization of television, print, and radio industries. All three media channels operate in a dual system of government and private funding. The government finances public broadcasting under the name of LRTV (Lithuanian Radio and Television Company),¹ running one television network and three radio stations.³ It has the largest audience of all the radio stations. Lithuanian Radio dominates the airwaves as forty percent of the audience tunes in. The rest of the audience is mostly shared among the rest of the power players that are commercially owned. After Lithuania declared independence, the government agreed “that it should no longer be involved in newspaper publishing.” This spurred an explosion of publishers and audiences that caused sales to increase until the late 1990’s. As the industry stabilized, publishers created a local media character that allows them to reach even the most specific of markets. The two largest print news sources contain local supplements, appealing to audiences everywhere. This strategy has been remarkable in shaping local and national identities, because all the publications are free of any government control.¹ However, while print, with its rich history, has the power to influence people in a significant way, television is an even larger presence in the minds of Lithuanians.

Public television attracts twenty percent of the audience as the top three private networks collectively pull two thirds of the viewers to their screens. They are largely owned by foreign investors including Scandinavian, American, and Polish companies.^1,3 With media laws structured to minimize political influence and provide a framework for self-regulation, the content of each private TV or radio network is a delicate balance of local, national, and foreign news and entertainment. Unfortunately, pertinent information about internet usage was nearly nonexistent in the sources listed in the assignment. All I can say is that about two thirds of the population are internet users. ³

Otherwise, it seems that the media industry in Lithuania so far has been hopeful. Successful countries are interested in and investing in this small spunky nation. Not only that, but in the last two decades, Lithuania has allied with a slew of countries. On a global scale, the country gained recognition as a member of NATO and the UN, as well as support and friendship from the United States. Furthermore, Lithuania has joined the European Union, which, along with the other two Baltic States, may be its most important alliance yet.³

That is because Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have teamed up to expand and develop their creative industries, with projects largely funded by the European Union. I found this to be the most promising prospect for Lithuania. With a strong cultural identity, this country has much to offer to the world artistically. These plans have been spearheaded by projects such as the Uzupis Creative Cluster, in which lies the Uzupis Art Incubator, which is the first of its kind not only among the Baltic states, but in Europe, too. In essence, Uzupis is a naturally formed platform to kick-start various creative undertakings, located in the nation’s capital and largest city, Vilnius. It partners with local universities and promotes arts and creativity of all kinds, with over three hundred representatives and fifty businesses already established. According to the president of this venture, “The community of Uzupis arranges events that unite its members and support their creativity and the commercialization of their activities on a regular basis.” Furthermore, Vilnius hosts Meno Spaustuve, a program set up to encourage performance art by providing cheaper resources, such as performance spaces and business-side support for creative talents. Lastly, the development of the creative industries is showing success in my hometown, Klaipeda. There, they have created a program called KEDA, which is a “culture factory” of sorts. The group has been focused on making it easier for creatives to advertise their experience and innovation practices by connecting them to each other via Google Maps. One of my favorite projects has been the transformation of a tobacco factory into a creative space.²

While all this sounds extremely promising, I do hold some reservations. I am very interested in how this project is attempting to capitalize on the creativity of Lithuanians. I admire the support for the arts and innovation, and it seems to be making exciting progress. Yet, I wonder about the commercialization of art that seems to be one of the undercurrents of all this activity. How can they capitalize on art while maintaining quality? Furthermore, even the organizers of this agree that the initiative still has a ways to go and that many policies are underdeveloped. However, the leaders are optimistic, believing that solutions and success will arise as long as the Baltic States continue to work together.

1-Baltic States, Status of Media in. (2003). In Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/estimc/baltic_states_status_of_media_in

2-Creative Industries in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 2010. UNESCO. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. <http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/cultural-diversity/diversity-of-cultural-expressions/tools/ci-mapping/europe-and-north-america/lithuania/>.

United States. CIA. Lithuania. 2012. CIA World Factbook. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lh.html>.

Egle, lithuania, eastern europe

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:17:19 -0500

I chose Lithuania as my country to do research about, because even though I was struggling between a few options, it was the one that tugged at me the most. I was born and raised there, and therefore know what the media scene was like. However, it’s been nearly nine years since I’ve lived there and I feel quite out of touch with Lithuanian media. I think this assignment would be a great way for me to reconnect with my roots. Also, I hope to gain a new, more analytical perspective on Lithuanian media – one in which I explore the content in and of itself, as well as its relationship to European media, and finally its place in the global context.

Growing up, I was a television and media junkie. My parents and relatives always berated me for spending hours in front of the TV. I knew the schedules of my favorite channels by heart; I was a human TV guide. My parents had cable, so not only did I have access to our national channels, but I also spent more than a fair amount of time watching Cartoon Network (which later was changed to the British Fox Kids), MTV, and occasionally other channels. I never much thought about what I was watching, I was simply engaged. Looking back, I realize that much of the programming I took in was not Lithuanian. I did not comprehend then that I was a part of a global audience. One of my favorite national networks had “Friday Night Feature Films” which generally featured older blockbuster films, and you can be sure that I was tuned in nearly every Friday. I watched many classic Hollywood movies dubbed in Lithuanian, and only when I went back to visit did I start thinking about how they were presented to local audiences.

I think it would be fascinating to explore how Lithuania has been stepping out and away from the Soviet Union into a more westernized country. I plan to take full advantage of the fact that I understand the language and still have family in the country to truly take this assignment to the next level. I would like to learn more about the relationship and ratio between Lithuanian media and foreign media, and within the foreign media – the influence of the United States. I think it will prove to be interesting because Europe has set up a network of European channels and programming so as not to be completely dominated by American productions. My curiosity lies in how much of the European network is influenced by American media and how. For example, I know that Lithuanian cable providers grant people access to British MTV and VH1, and I would like to know how they are different and similar. Finally, I would also like to investigate the role basketball plays in Lithuanian media and culture, as well as Eurovision – a continent-wide music contest that seems to be a major media event in Lithuania. In fact, I would consider these two competitive arenas to be cultural phenomena. If possible, I foresee myself making them at least a minor focus of this project. Onward we go!