VZCZCXRO3448
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHVI #0984/01 1920703
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100703Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0522
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000984 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV AU
SUBJECT: SPO LETTER ON EU POLICY SHIFT SPOTLIGHTS TABLOID'S 
POLITICAL INFLUENCE IN AUSTRIA 
 
Ref: Vienna 942 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: When Austrian Chancellor Gusenbauer and SPO party 
leader Werner Faymann chose to announce their party's new policy on 
EU referenda in a June 26 letter to the mass tabloid Kronen Zeitung, 
setting in motion a chain of events that led to the collapse of the 
government, the move highlighted the enduring political influence of 
Austria's largest newspaper.  The SPO leaders informed the Kronen 
Zeitung that henceforth the traditionally pro-EU party would call 
for referenda on all EU treaties.  Kronen Zeitung had been waging an 
aggressive campaign against the Lisbon Treaty for months prior to 
its ratification by the Austrian Parliament, and many politicians 
and pundits accused the SPO leaders of seeking an alliance with the 
paper in a desperate attempt to lure voters.  The influence of 
Kronen Zeitung - which often has an anti-U.S. slant -- is nothing 
new; Austrian politicians have long believed the paper can shape 
public opinion.  End Summary. 
 
Anti-EU Campaign 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The June 26 letter from the two SPO leaders (reftel) 
announcing the new EU policy followed a months-long campaign by 
Kronen Zeitung against the Lisbon Treaty, which the Austrian 
Parliament ratified in April.   The tabloid's controversial 
publisher and part owner, the octogenarian Hans Dichand, personally 
took part in at least one public demonstration against the treaty; a 
front page photo in his tabloid even featured him along with other 
protestors. 
 
¶3. (U) The SPO's abrupt departure from its traditionally EU-friendly 
policies infuriated the party's junior coalition partner, the OVP, 
as well as the opposition parties, the media pundits, and even some 
within the SPO.  This move, in fact, proved the proximate cause for 
the collapse of the governing Grand Coalition on July 7.  A number 
of critics angrily accused the SPO leadership of adopting Kronen 
Zeitung's aggressively anti-EU posture in a desperate attempt to 
improve the SPO's flagging political fortunes. 
 
¶4. (U) The daily regularly features columns, some written by Dichand 
himself, and news articles criticizing the EU.  During the paper's 
campaign against the Lisbon Treaty, approval ratings for the EU 
among Austrians dipped to a record low of 28 percent, the lowest in 
the EU.  One of the most prominent and consistent EU bashers in 
Kronen Zeitung is EU whistleblower Hans Peter Martin.  A former 
investigative journalist with Germany's Der Spiegel, Martin is an 
Austrian EU parliamentarian who exposed rampant abuse by a number of 
fellow EU MPs who were illegally pocketing per diem funds.  Martin 
contributes frequent columns to Kronen Zeitung pillorying EU 
bureaucrats as out of touch with ordinary citizens. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Adding to the Kronen Zeitung's anti-EU chorus is a steady 
flow of letters to the editor (some even written in verse) which are 
given ample space each day in the letters to the editor section. 
Critics often accuse the paper's staff of writing these letters 
under fictitious names.  However, it appears that the letters, in 
large part at least, are genuine; MFA contacts tell us that FM 
Plassnik several months ago directed her staff to begin contacting 
the authors of each anti-EU letter to the paper to discuss their 
concerns.  The MFA confirmed that the letters come from actual 
readers. 
 
FM Tangles with Tabloid 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) FM Plassnik (of the OVP) wrote an open letter to Kronen 
Zeitung June 30 in which she asserted that Dichand had told her in a 
2007 meeting that he would throw his weight behind the OVP and "save 
the party" if the OVP would call for a national referendum on the 
Lisbon Treaty.  Plassnik wrote that she refused this "unethical 
offer" and excoriated Dichand for stoking "Europhobia" in Austria. 
Unperturbed, the Kronen Zeitung responded the next day with a column 
ridiculing Plassnik and a series of letters to the editor accusing 
Plassnik of being "arrogant" and "aloof." 
 
Wide, Often Anti-U.S. Influence 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) These events have highlighted the opinion making power of the 
Kronen Zeitung and its crusading publisher.  The tabloid's 
circulation, 967,000 Monday-Saturday and 1.6 million on Sunday, is 
by far Austria's largest.  It reaches an estimated three million 
readers daily, dwarfing the much smaller readership of higher-brow 
Vienna dailies such as the centrist Die Presse (circulation 125,000) 
and liberal-left Der Standard (circulation 120,000).  The tabloid is 
read by more than 40 percent of all newspaper readers in Austria. 
Such a market share, observers say, means the Kronen Zeitung may 
have the highest newspaper readership penetration in the world.  At 
 
VIENNA 00000984  002 OF 002 
 
 
any rate, it is surely among the highest. 
 
¶8. (U) The paper is consistently critical of the U.S. Administration 
and its policies.  Its columnists and news articles delight in 
pummeling President Bush and U.S. foreign policy.  Many of the 
world's ills are laid at America's doorstep, and coverage and 
commentary often are slanted.  For instance, when President Bush 
nominated a prominent New York businessman as Ambassador to Austria 
in late 2007 (the nominee later withdrew), the tabloid's then-U.S. 
correspondent published a negative profile of the nominee that 
featured rumor and innuendo.  The paper soon carried a letter from 
the Embassy's Charge' d'Affaires lambasting the attack and 
puncturing its assertions.   Stories of crime and societal 
dysfunction from America likewise are highlighted in the daily. 
America's popular culture -- such as the love lives of Hollywood 
stars -- is also covered thoroughly.  Like other Austrian media, 
however, the Kronen Zeitung has followed the 2008 U.S. presidential 
election process with interest and, on occasion, even made favorable 
comments about both major candidates. 
 
Comment: A Force to be Reckoned With 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9. (U) Dichand and his paper have deliberately sought to shape 
Austrian public opinion for years, often with real impact. 
Politicians continue to believe Kronen Zeitung's support - or 
opposition - can be critical.  Cabinet ministers often respond 
immediately to critical stories or commentary in the tabloid with 
letters to the editor.  When Austria's parliament ratified the 
Lisbon Treaty over the tabloid's objections, some Austrian media 
speculated that the newspaper had lost some of its influence. 
However, the paper's prominent role in the SPO's recent about-face 
on EU policy has silenced such speculation.   Kronen Zeitung and its 
aging publisher retain a unique role in shaping Austrian public 
opinion - and politicians and media competitors know it.