Is there any conflict of interest in the media? The analysis of the mission declaration and financial situation of chosen radio station

Abstract

In the presented work, new opportunities were sought to address conflicts of interest in the media industry. It was considered, according to Dennis Thompson’s definition, that a conflict of interest is a series of circumstances and a legitimate concern that a secondary objective will affect the primary one. The primary interest refers to the primary, even statutory goals of the media business, namely the fulfilment of the social mission, while the secondary interest includes personal benefit. It seems that in the media, profit should not be the primacy – rather, it should be a certain prism. The purpose of the article is to formulate a certain proposal, based on the renegotiation of the current state. A so-called third way (relative to non-profit and for-profit activities) is proposed, which is worth further discussion. To this end, an analysis of the financial situation and an analysis of the declared mission of selected media entities was conducted: radio stations such as BBC Radio, WWOZ, WRBH. Careful tracing of these two dimensions (mission and finances) makes it possible to deepen the discourse related to the conflict of interest. It also provides a proposal for renegotiating beliefs about the media business in general. For the purpose of the article and research objective, the research question was formulated: Does the media have to choose between profit and social mission? The obtained research results and the discussion of the results do not allow to answer the research question in the affirmative. With this, it can be assumed that media organizations do not have to choose between profit and social mission. The changing situation of the BBC in the coming years, including BBC Radio, requires further observation and verification of whether the British broadcaster will become a recognized and recognized case of combining profit with mission, perhaps even in a sustainable and inclusive way.