Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling, ERR) is Estonia’s radio and television public media group that was created in 2007 through the merger of Estonian Radio (Eesti Raadio, ER) and Estonian Television (Eesti Televisioon, ETV). Today, the broadcaster airs three television channels and six radio channels.
Media assets
Radio: Vikerraadio, Raadio 2, Klassikaraadio, Raadio 4, Raadio Tallinn, Jupiter
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State Funded (ISF)
Ownership and governance
ERR was established in 2007 through the merger of the former national radio and television broadcasters under the terms of the Public Broadcasting Act. ERR’s legal status is a legal person in public law.
The highest governing body of ERR is the ERR Council, which is in charge of planning the activities of the station, organizing its management and supervising the activities of the management board (which is the management arm of the station in charge of the day-to-day activities at the station).
The Council consists of MPs and experts in the media field, namely one representative of each of Riigikogu’s political groups (currently five) and four media experts. The terms of the council’s members are staggered to prevent political interference (through, for example, the replacement of the board when the parliament changes following elections).
The composition of the board (representation of all political parties and independent experts) has been designed to ensure that there is no government control over the corporation’s top governing structure.
Source of funding and budget
ERR is financed almost entirely from the state budget. It stopped carrying advertising in 2002. The budget of the broadcaster is presented every year for approval to the Riigikogu, the unicameral parliament of Estonia. ERR also generates some income on its own through sale of content and other services, but that amount of funding is only a fraction of the budget. In 2022, ERR operated with a budget of over €40.3m, according to the company’s latest annual report.
Editorial independence
Thanks to its organizational principles (mainly the procedures to appoint its governing structures), ERR has a reputation for editorial independence and neutrality. However, a series of incidents in recent years including the resignation of journalists working with ERR have jeopardized the editorial integrity of the broadcaster. They have been triggered by the far-right Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), which scored well in the 2019 elections, creating a coalition government with the Estonian Centre Party, Isamaa.
These incidents, however, do not demonstrate that ERR is under government control. The broadcaster’s journalists have pushed back against such pressures in the past year and the station continues to do its work independently. Moreover, EKRE doesn’t have full control over the government, hence it is not in the position to dictate the editorial line at ERR.
ERR is regulated by the Public Broadcasting Act, which establishes the station’s status, objectives, functions, financing and organization of management and activities of the ERR. The Act states that ERR “must be independent in the production and transmission of its programmes.”
The ERR has an ethics adviser whose mission, according to the law, is to monitor how ERR complies with the professional ethics and good practices of journalism. The adviser is appointed by the management board with the approval of the ERR Council.
Although the independence of the adviser was questioned in the past because, being part of the ERR, the adviser was accused of catering to the interests of the station, the function plays an important role in monitoring the broadcaster’s work. In 2016, the Estonian Parliament tried to adopt legal provisions to establish a third-party adviser who would be independent from ERR. However, these provisions were not approved in the end.
October 2023