Latvian Radio (Latvijas Radio, LR) is Latvia’s public radio company. It runs six stations as following: LR1 (airing general content and focused on news), LR2 (mainly playing Latvian popular music), LR3 (geared on classical music), LR4 (airing mainly in Russian), Radio Pieci (a youth focused portal and radio channel) and Radio Naba (focused on alternative music). The station also has its own theater and choir.
Media assets
Radio: LR1, LR2, LR3, LR4, Pieci, Naba
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State Funded and State Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
According to the Public Electronic Mass Media and Their Management Law adopted in 2020, LR was transformed into a capital association whose capital shares are owned by the state. The newly-created Public Electronic Mass Media Council (SEPLP), a body of three members, was created to hold the state capital shares in public media, including LTV and LR. SEPLP appoints the board of LR and the station’s editorial head.
Source of funding and budget
In 2021, LR operated with a budget of nearly €11.3m, over 98% of which was contributed by the government through a state subsidy, according to a company annual report. In recent years the station’s journalists have been complaining about the insufficient financial resources at LR, which prevents them from properly doing their work. LR is also affected by legal provisions adopted in 2018, which forbade LR to carry advertising as of 2021. Since then, the government has increased its contribution to cover the lost funding from ads.
In 2022, the Latvian Radio had a total income of €12.8m, roughly €12.2m coming from a state grant, according to a financial statement published by the broadcaster.
Editorial independence
The staff of LR in many occasions pushed back against attempts from its former regulator (NEPLP) or politicians to make pressures on the radio’s editorial agenda. They often showed solidarity, coming together as a team against such pressures. Other than that, there is no evidence found in recent years that the government exerts control over the editorial decision-making process at LR. LR is guided in its work by a Code of Conduct, which establishes the editorial independence of the station and puts forward a set of editorial principles and rules that LR’s journalists have to follow.
As there is no evidence of government control of LR’s editorial agenda, it is assumed that these rules are complied with. With the new public media law adopted in 2020, the office of the Public Media Ombudsman, which covers LTV and LR, was created. The first Public Media Ombudsman, an independent expert, who works as an academic, was appointed in December 2021.
October 2023