Rude awakening: "social and media change in Central and Eastern Europe"

Jakubowicz, Karol (author)

This article reviews the transformation in society and the media in the former communist countries of central and eastern Europe. Adopting a "path dependence approach", the different countries of the region are analysed and allocated to two general categories, depending upon the nature and extent of the changes that have taken place in society and the media. The first group of countries (called here "Type A") have advanced relatively far along the road to transformation. Examples would be Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia. The second group (called here "Type B") retain much more of the old order. Examples would be Russia and some of the other republics that have issued from the collapse of the old Soviet Union. A rangeof theories of media change are reviewed, and their prognoses for the development of the media after the fall of communism are tested against the subsequent developments. It is argued that the media in both Type A and Type B countries remain highly politicised, particularly in the case of broadcasting, and with limited independence from the political elite. Journalism, too, remains paternal and didactic, partly as a result of the historical position of intellectuals in the region. While there are importantdifferences between Type A and Type B countries, neither represents astable and finished model of transformation. In neither case, are the mediathe passive victims of social forces. On the contrary, their shortcomings help to reproduce the limits of the overall transformation process.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2001
• Number of pages: Str. 59-80
• Numbering: Vol. 8, no. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-75932
• UDC: 659.3/.4
• ISSN on article: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 20982109
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Javnost = The public
• Shortened title: Javnost
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, European Institute for Communication and Culture
• ISSN: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 40119808

Secondary language

• Language: Unknown
• Title: Odkrivanje neprijetnih resnic: družbene in medijske spremembe v Srednji in Vzhodni Evropi

Abstract

Članek obravnava spremembe v družbi in medijih v nekdanjih komunističnih državah srednje in vzhodne Evrope. Upoštevajoč različne razvojne poti ter naravo in obseg sprememb v družbi in medijih so države razvrščene v dve splošni kategoriji. Prva skupina držav ("tip A") je dosegla relativno velik napredek na poti transformacije. Primeri so Poljska, Češka, Madžarska, Slovenija in Estonija. Za drugo skupino ("tip B") je značilna višja stopnja ohranjanja starega. Primeri so Rusija in druge države, ki so nastale po razpadu nekdanje Sovjetske zveze. Članek obravnava niz teoretizacij medijskih sprememb ter njihove napovedi glede razvoja medijev po padcu komunizma primerja z dejanskimi spremembami. Ugotovitve kažejo, da so mediji v obeh skupinah držav ostali močno politizirani, zlasti radio in televizija, in so dosegli omejeno neodvisnost od političnih elit. Novinarstvo je ostalo paternalistično in učiteljsko, delno tudi kot posledica zgodovinskega položaja intelektualcev. Med skupino A in B sicer obstajajo pomembne razlike, vendar ne ena ne druga skupina ne predstavljata trdnega, zaključenega modela transformacije. V nobenem primeru mediji niso pasivne žrtve družbenih sil; nasprotno, njihove pomanjkljivosti prispevajo k reprodukciji omejitev celotnega procesa transformacije.