Information on Flemish media organisations is fairly simple to consult and to request. Different (independent) organisations publish data on Flemish leading news media. For example, the Centre for Information on Media (CIM) offers reach figures of all media in Flanders, and the Flemish Regulator of Media (VRM) reports on changes in the media landscape and violations against the media legislations.
The Flemish public broadcaster VRT includes in its mission statement to be as transparent and open as possible. Because VRT is financed by the Flemish community, it considers being transparent as its duty too. As previously explained (see Indicator C1 – Supervising the watchdog “control of the controllers”), numerous organisations supervise VRT and publish their findings on freely accessible platforms. Commercial media organisations are not obliged to share (financial) information with the Flemish people. However, a majority of them are reasonably open concerning power structures and finances. Despite this, unravelling the diverse revenue streams is not an easy task and becomes more difficult as the sector becomes more integrated.
