Delfi (web portal)
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| URL |
* The Delfi web portal for Estonia |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Web portal |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | multilingual |
| Current status | Active |
Delfi (occasionally capitalized as DELFI) is a major internet portal in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics.[1] It ranks as the most popular website among Lithuanian and Estonian internet users.[2][3]
Delfi operates in the respective Baltic countries under the domain names delfi.ee, delfi.lv, and delfi.lt. Aside from versions in the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian languages, the company offers Russian language versions of its portal in all three countries. Also, from spring 2007 it offers Russian language site in Ukraine under delfi.ua
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[edit] Company development
Delfi was established in 1999 by the Estonian company MicroLink and sold in 2003 to the Norwegian company Findexa.[4] In 2007 Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp acquired 100% of Delfi stocks for €54m.[5] It operates under a single name in the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and also in Ukraine. It has its own bureaux in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Warsaw, and Stockholm. It also sources its news reports from the Baltic News Service and from wire services.[1]
[edit] Freedom of speech
Because visitors of Delfi can comment on every news story, this site generates debates over freedom of speech in the Baltic States. Some members of the Estonian and Lithuanian Parliaments have proposed laws making Delfi and other news portals responsible for the contents of anonymous comments.[6][7] In September 2006, attorneys of Artūras Zuokas, the mayor for Vilnius, asked public prosecutors to seize Delfi servers and reveal the IP addresses of all anonymous commentators that have written comments about him in several Delfi publications.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Laima Nevinskaite (13 November 2003). "Media of the Baltic States in the European Communication Networks" (PDF). The European Public Sphere Conference, Europäische Akademie, Berlin Grunewald, 28th-30th November 2003. Europäische Akademie Berlin. http://www.stoyke.com/eupub/papers/nevinskaite_paper_eupub_031113.pdf.
- ^ "gemiusAudience :: Home". Gemius Eesti O. http://en.audience.gemius.ee/.
- ^ "gemiusAudience :: Home". Gemius Baltic. http://www.audience.lt/.
- ^ "Findexa acquires the Baltic news portal Delfi". European Association of Directory and Database Publishers. 16 December 2003. http://www.eadp.org/index.php?q=node/12730.
- ^ "Ekspress Group buys Delfi portals for 54 million euros". The Baltic Times. 8 April 2007. http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18475/.
- ^ "Parliament fails to adopt controversial bill on censoring webcommentators" (PDF). Baltic Business News Newsletter. 18 May 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070929083354/http://www.balticbusinessnews.com/newsletter/060518_bbn_newsletter.pdf.
- ^ "Seimo narių siūlomose pataisose - ir didesni suvaržymai žiniasklaidai" (in Lithuanian). Delfi News. 20 June 2006. http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=9915197.
- ^ Vanagas, Justinas (4 September 2006). "A.Zuokas - prieš komentarus apie jį rašančius internautus" (in Lithuanian). Delfi. http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/article.php?id=10589308.
[edit] Sources
- Internet portals in the Baltic States: legal issues by Liutauras Ulevičius
