Abstract
Over 20 years have passed since the fall of communist rule in Eastern and Central Europe, and the media in the region have undergone major transformations. In their edited collection, Peter Gross and Karol Jakubowicz seek to establish what exactly the nature of these transformations was, and whether or not we can say that the process of transition away from the communist media system can now be regarded as completed. Gross and Jakubowicz are not alone in trying to come to grips with recent changes in the region. Another recent book that takes up the same challenge is John Downey and Sabina Mihelj’s (2012) Central and Eastern European Media in Comparative Perspective, reviewed in the previous issue of this journal.
Media Transformations in the Post-communist World opens with an introductory chapter written by the editors, which seeks to define the processes of ‘transition’ and ‘transformation’ that the media in the region have undergone, and critically discusses possible criteria for assessing them. The chapter also provides a useful typology of four main ‘ideational wellsprings’ of the initial media transformation, as perceived by Eastern European actors of themselves: (a) towards a system combining ‘the best of’ both communism and capitalism, (b) towards a system modelled on western media, and on Western European media in particular (‘re-joining’ or ‘catching up’ with Europe), (c) towards a system that retains many elements of the old system, under the guise of democracy, and (d) towards a liberal media system, associated with individual rights and responsibilities and unbridled economic liberalism.
This introduction is followed by Daniel Hallin and Paolo Mancini’s reflection on analytical and interpretive frameworks developed in their study of Western European media systems (Hallin and Mancini, 2004) and their applicability to Central and Eastern Europe. Although acknowledging the similarities with media systems found in Greece, Spain and Portugal, Hallin and Mancini rightly point out that what is needed is a rethinking and extension of their framework, rather than a mere application to other regions. Unfortunately, Gross and Jakubowicz’s volume stops short of such a systematic rethinking and extension. As with many edited volumes, the key strengths of the book therefore lie in individual contributions rather than in the volume as a whole. Most chapters examine a single country, and although providing several perceptive insights, they do not offer enough bases for general conclusions about developments in the region as a whole. Welcome exceptions to this pattern include Alina Mungiu Pippidi’s analysis of correlations between levels of press freedom, corruption and democracy and Inka Salovaara Moring’s study of the growth of digital media use, both based on secondary data analysis drawn from several countries across the region; Péter Bjomi-Lázár’s overview of the changing patterns of media politics and political communication in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, based on over 50 original interviews with journalists and party politicians; and Andrei Richter’s overview of changes in the legal regulation of journalism in post-Soviet countries. Thanks to these chapters and to several insightful single-country overviews, Media Transformations in the Post-communist World will certainly provide a valuable resource for anyone interested in recent developments in Central and Eastern European media.