Media and Politics in New Democracies Europe in a Comparative Perspective

by Zielonka, Jan

• ISBN13: 9780198747536
• ISBN10: 0198747535
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-12-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book analyses the relationship between the media and politics in new democracies in Europe and other parts of the world. It does so from both theoretical and empirical angles.

How is power being mediated in new democracies? Can media function independently in the unstable and polarised political environment experienced after the fall of autocracy? Do major shifts in economic and ownership structures help or hinder the quality of the media? How much can new media laws alter old journalistic habits and political cultures? And how do new technologies impact the media and democracy? The book examines these questions, drawing on a vast set of data assembled by a large international project.

Media and Politics in New Democracies focuses chiefly on new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, but chapters analysing new democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia are also included. These new democracies represent a variety of what sociologists call 'glocalism': homogenisation and heterogenisation coexist, revealing hybrid models and multiple modernities. It is local culture that assigns meaning to global and regional influences. 'Ideal' liberal models and best practices are being promoted and aspired to, but these models and practices are often being adopted in opaque ways generating results opposite to those intended. The book finds many new democracies to be fragile if not deficient, and tries to show what is really going on in these countries, how they compare to each other, and what they can learn from each other.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
1. Fragile Democracy, Volatile Politics, and the Quest for a Free Media, Jan Zielonka
MODELS
2. The News Media between Volatility and Hybridization, Paolo Mancini
3. Normative and Empirical Models of Democracy, Radoslaw Markowski
4. Capitalist Diversity and the Media, Bela Greskovits
ACTORS
5. Political Actors and the Colonisation of the Media, Peter Bajomi-Lazar
6. The Rise of Oligarchs as Media Owners, Vaclav Stetka
7. Journalists as Critical Change Agents and Popular Disseminators, Stanislaw Mocek
FACTORS
8. Good, Bad, and 'Irritant' Laws in New Democracies, Martin Krygier
9. Daily Democracy: Politics, Media, and Democratic Culture, Ainius Lasas
10. Digital Democracies and Networked Publics, Inka Salovaara
CHALLENGES
11. Media Fragmentation and its Consequences for Democracy, Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud
12. Acceleration of History, Political Instabilities, and Media Change, Aukse Balcytiene
13. Informal Politics and Formal Media Structures, Ruzha Smilova and Daniel Smilov
BENCHMARKS
14. Converging and Diverging Pathways of Media Transformation, Katrin Voltmer
15. Variety of Media Systems in Third-Wave Democracies, Jose Santana Pereira
16. Mediated Despotism: A World Beyond Democracy, John Keane
REGIONAL EXPERIENCES
17. Media, Hegemony, and Polarisation in Latin America, Jairo Lugo-Ocando and Sara Garcia Santamaria
18. Does the Watchdog need Watching in Southeast Asia?, Mark R. Thompson
19. Media, Conflict, and Political Transitions in Africa, Nicole Stremlau and Iginio Gagliardone
CONCLUSIONS
20. Why is it Important to Study the Media and Politics in New Democracies?, Terhi Rantanen and Nikola Belakova