Description
Book SynopsisThis book compares media and political systems in East-Central as well as in Western Europe in order to identify the reasons possibly responsible for the extensive and intensive party control over the media. This phenomenon is widely experienced in many of the former communist countries since the political transformation. The author argues that differences in media freedom and in the politicization of the news media are rooted in differences in party structures between old and new democracies, and, notably, the fact that young parties in the new members of the European Union are short of resources, which makes them more likely to take control of and to exploit media resources. The book takes a closer look at five former communist countries (Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia) to explain variations in media freedom and the politicization of the news media in and across countries. It offers general country descriptions as well as detailed case studies of the media policies and party backgrounds of two governments in each country.
Table of Contents1. Political and Media Systems in Central and Eastern Europe1 1.1. Media Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe 1.2. Conditions for Media Freedom 1.3. Theories of Media Capture 1.4. Party Colonisation of the Media 1.5. Party Colonisation and Media Freedom 1.6. Further Specifications 1.7. Normative Implications 1.8. Methodological Notes 2. Hungary 2.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 2.2. Media Policy under the Horn Government 2.3. Media Policy under the Second Orban Government 2.4. The Horn Government vs. the Second Orban Government 3. Bulgaria 3.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 3.2. Media Policy under the Kostov Government 3.3. Media Policy under the Simeon Government 3.4. The Kostov vs. the Simeon Governments 4. Poland 4.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 4.2. The Media Policy of the Miller - Belka Governments 4.3. The Media Policy of the Marcinkiewicz - Kaczynski Governments 4.4. The Miller - Belka vs. the Marcinkiewicz - Kaczynski Governments 5. Romania 5.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 5.2. Media Policy under the Nastase Government 5.3. Media Policy under the Tariceanu Government 5.4. The Nastase vs. the Tariceanu Governments 6. Slovenia 6.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 6.2. Media Policy under the Second Drnovsek Government 6.3. Media Policy under the first Jansa Government 6.4. The Second Drnovsek vs. the First Jansa Government 7. Summary and Conclusions: Veto Points in the System Appendices Table 1. Freedom House press freedom indexes and ranking Table 2. List of interviewees Table 3. Composition of governments studied Table 4. Selected party systems indicators References Index of names and places
