The role and accountability of the state as a news media owner in the contemporary media landscape

Milosavljević, Marko (author), Poler Kovačič, Melita (author)

Drawing on critical capitalism theory and the social responsibility theory of media, this paper explores the role of the state as a news media owner in contemporary European media systems and the capitalist context. It focuses on accountability and the relationships between the state, state-owned media outlets, and the public. Academic research to date has predominantly examined public service media (PSM) and the dichotomy of private versus public media, thereby overlooking other models of state ownership. The lack of clear regulations on the state's accountability as a media owner outside PSM at the EU level, along with uncertainties in national regulatory frameworks (such as those seen in Slovenia, and the recent reinstatement of state ownership of media in Serbia) raise concerns about the potential for abuse of power. These issues are particularly relevant in the current context of illiberal and authoritarian tendencies within modern European capitalist societies.

• Language: English
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 486-497
• Numbering: Vol. 39, issue 5
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175366
• UDC: 070
• ISSN on article: 1460-3705
• DOI: 10.1177/02673231241267145
• COBISS.SI-ID: 204616195
• Publication date in RUL: 24.10.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: European journal of communication
• Publisher: Sage
• ISSN: 1460-3705
• COBISS.SI-ID: 229757440

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Evropska unija, mediji, državno lastništvo, odgovornost, lastništvo množičnih medijev, regulacija, odgovornost za medije, vloga države, avtoritarne tendence, javni servis

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101094816
• Name: Fostering capacity building for civic resilience and participation: Dialogic communication ethics and accountability
• Acronym: DIACOMET

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P5-0051
• Name: Množični mediji, javna sfera in družbene spremembe