Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija, LRT) is the national public service broadcaster in Lithuania. Its history dates back to 1926 when it launched radio broadcasting. In 1957, LRT began to air television programs. The broadcaster runs today three television channels (LRT Televizija targeting the general public, LRT Plius focused on culture and sports, and LRT Lituanica targeting the Lithuanian diaspora); and three radio channels (LRT Radijas focused on the general public, LRT Klasika focused on culture, classical music and programs for minorities, and LRT Opus specializing in contemporary music and programs for youth).
Media assets
Television: LRT Televizija, LRT Plius, LRT Lituanica
Radio: LRT Radijas, LRT Klasika, LRT Opus
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent Public (IP)
Ownership and governance
LRT is governed by the LRT Council whose main tasks are to supervise the implementation of the LRT’s mission and approve the annual budget of the broadcaster.
The Council consists of 12 members who are appointed for six-year terms as following: four members by the President, four by the Seimas (Lithuania’s Parliament) and four by civil society (the Lithuanian Science Council, the Lithuanian Education Council, the Lithuanian Creative Artists Association and the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference).
This formula of appointing the LRT Council through several institutions is aimed at ensuring the station’s political independence. With diverse institutions appointing the board, no single political party or institution can gain undue power over the broadcaster. An additional measure aimed at beefing up the LRT Council’s independence is the rule according to which two of the LRT Council members appointed by parliament have to be chosen from the candidates nominated by the opposition MPs.
LRT has also an Administrative Commission, which consists of five members all with management or financial expertise. This Commission consults the LRT Council and the broadcaster’s management on financial issues. The members of the Administrative Commission are appointed by the Council for a four-year mandate.
Source of funding and budget
Since 2015, LRT has been funded through a combination of tax-generated revenue, namely 1.5% of the personal income tax and 1.3% of the excise duties collected in Lithuania. This model of financing was introduced to ensure the independence of the LRT from both government institutions and corporations.
The LRT funding model prevents any sort of interference by authorities in deciding about the financial resources of the station as the value of the budget is calculated automatically without any government approval needed. Another guarantee for LRT’s yearly financing is a rule establishing that LRT’s budget can’t be lower than the amount calculated according to the value of income tax and excise duties for the year 2012.
In 2019, the government unveiled plans to turn to the Constitutional Court to challenge the LRT’s funding model, arguing that the automatic calculation of the broadcaster’s budget prevented the government from freely drafting the state budget. In November 2020, the Constitutional Court rejected the government’s case, stating that the current funding model of LRT doesn’t violate the country’s Constitution. The decision was seen as cementing the station’s financial independence.
In 2021, LRT operated with a budget of €53.54m, according to the outlet’s latest annual report. The following year, LRT had a budget of €55.43m, as shown in the 2022 company annual report.
Editorial independence
Thanks to its governing structure that prevents authorities or a single political group from making pressures on the station’s editorial policies and to its funding model that doesn’t allow any authority to make changes in the LRT budget (and hence use that leverage to blackmail the LRT’s management), the Lithuanian public broadcaster manages to maintain its editorial independence and fulfill its public service mission.
LRT is governed by the LRT Law, which describes the mission of the LRT as a public broadcaster that has to serve the public with diverse and quality programming, independent from political and other external pressures. However, what secures the editorial independence of LRT is the way the broadcaster is governed and funded, preventing external pressures on the editorial policies and giving LRT financial stability, which is extremely important for its long-term editorial independence.
According to a new law on LRT that became effective on 1 January 2021, the position of Ethics Controller was introduced at the broadcaster. The role of the controller is to see how LRT journalists comply with a series of ethical rules, including international professional standards. To ensure the controller’s neutrality, the LRT Council appoints the person in this position through a public tender. The controller is appointed for a five-year term. Dainas Elena Andrikiene was appointed the first ethics controller at LRT in May 2021.
October 2023