Comparative media systems Flashcards
What is a media system? System
Systems = Set of interrelated elements. Elements of a system are defined by their relationships with each other, and therefore cannot be understood without reference to the whole pattern of relationships.
-> The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Media: definition
“By mass communication we mean that form of communication in which statements are made publicly (i.e., without a limited or personally defined audience), indirectly (i.e., with spatial or temporal or spatiotemporal distance between the communication partners and unilaterally (i.e. without a change of roles between the speakers and the receivers), by technical means of dissemination (so-called mass media) to a dispersed audience (individuals, but also small groups, whose common feature is that they turn to a mass communication statement)” (Maletzke 1963: 76).
Media systems analysis includes
- the economic, political and legal framework;
- the technical basis;
- the organization of the media system and structures in the media system together with an organization;
- the effects of these elements on media and media system performance.
(Thomaß 2007: 19 -translated by JL)
Profile of the media system
- Dominant type of media use (Print, TV, radio, internet, …)
- Dominant type of print media (capitol press, national vs. local and regional press, boulevard/yellow press, subscription-based?, …)
- Dominant type of broadcasting (public, private, statecontrolled broadcasting? Concentration trends, cross-links to other media industries, …)
- Online media (Who has access to the internet? How is the ratio of public and private sector communication content that is accessible online?
- Legal basis and media accountability (Press freedom and its restrictions, privacy rights, structures & organization of broadcasting supervision, how centralized or decentralized? How close to or far from the state?)
Comparison – what do compare?
Countries as default units of comparison
- “when the comparisons are made across two or more geographically or historically (spatially or temporally) defined systems” (Blumler, McLeod & Rosengren, 1992, 7).
- “Comparative research differs from non-comparative work in that it attempts to reach conclusions beyond single systems or cultures and explains differences and similarities between objects of analysis against the backdrop of their contextual conditions.” (Esser & Hanitzsch, 2012, 5
Four theories of the Press/Normative theories: first 2 theories
- The authoritarian theory
- Press is used by the rulers to inform thepeople only that which the rulers wished the people should know and support
- The rulers possessed all rights to make/change policy, provide a license or concede it.
- The press can be censored
- Publishing is “a sort of agreement between the rulers and the publishers” - The libertarian theory
- the right and duty of the press to serve as an extra-legal check on government
- the press was to keep officers of the state from abusing or exceeding their authority
- it was to be the watchdog to spot and expose any arbitrary or authoritarian practice. And to fulfil this function adequately, the press had to be completely free from control or domination
Four theories of the Press/Normative theories: second 2 theories
- The soviet communist theory
- Media are instruments to controlled by the state (on behalf of the people)
- Private ownership of media is not acceptable
- Media should reflect the Soviet official ideology
- Media are instruments of social change and social control
- Media should be instruments of serious purpose - The social responsibility theory
- Media should be objective, thruthful, comperhensive, and accurate
- Media should separate News from Opinion and verify news sources
- Media should represent view-points of minorities and all other constituent groups os society
- Radio & television are to enlighten the public; promote public morals and keep advertising only in good proportion thereby maintaining high standards
Why do we need comparative studies?
- Increasing globalisation
- New communication technologies
- It doesn’t seem to be plausible to study a certain phenomenon in one country only.
- In areas where we find a strong relationship between communication phenomena and political systems and cultural value systems, comparative work is more evident.
Esser & Hanitzsch (2016) identify six areas of superiority of comparative research
- Comparative research is “valuable, even indispensable, for establishing the generality of findings and the validity of interpretations” derived from single contexts (Kohn, 1989: 77).
- It can prevent one from overgeneralizing from our own experiences.
- Comparative analysis provides opportunities to challenge existing paradigms.
- Comparative research helps to develop and contextualize the understanding of our own societies.
- Comparative work helps to foster global scholarship and sustain networks of researchers across continents.
- Wealth of practical knowledge and experiences that comparative research offers.
Voltmer (2008): general description
-focused on so-called third-wave democracies and their pathways to democracy
-She argues that “the specific empirical configurations of the relationship between the media and their political, economic and cultural environment suggest that emerging democracies develop unique types of media systems that differ significantly from those in established democracies” (Voltmer, 2008, 37)
Voltmer (2008): Transition from communist oligarchy in Eastern Europe
- Communist regimes are unique in that their legitimacy is based on an elaborated ideology that plays a central part in guiding political decision making and in shaping the relationship between politics and society.
- The two features that characterize communist regimes – nationalization of the economy and ideological legitimation – also shaped the role of the media and how they operated.
-In spite of the complete lack of press freedom the media were also beneficiaries of this system. As long as they did not overstep the accepted boundaries they were released from the risks of market competition and the necessity to respond to volatile audience tastes. Journalists could also see themselves as part of a utopian project of historical dimensions even though in practice much of their output never made it to publication.
-The transition from communism to democratic rule is viewed as particularly complex and prone to setbacks because it involves not only the transformation of political institutions but also the reorganization of the economy both happening at the same time and both being the precondition for the success of the respective other (Linz, Stepan, 1996; Off e, 1991). - The commercialization of the media and the simultaneous withdrawal of the state from providing subsidies hit most of the media organizations completely unprepared and drove many of them into bankruptcy.
- One reason why politicians are so reluctant to accept the autonomy of the media and continue to maintain control over the public agenda is that the media are virtually the only channel of communication with voters, and thus the only route to power.
- Meanwhile, the press remains highly politicized along partisan lines. In most post-communist countries newspapers take unanimously side for a particular party or candidate. Where religion has emerged as a strong force in society, like in Poland, media have also rallied around religious organizations and movements to promote their views. Similar parallelism can be found with regard to ethnic groups.
The result is a pattern of external diversity (McQuail, 1992), which rarely generates an overall balanced representation of voices in the public sphere. - Political parallelism in Eastern Europe is fostered by a self image of journalists as intellectuals who are leading and shaping the public debate.
Voltmer (2008): Transition from military dictatorship in Latin Amercia
-In many respects military dictatorships appear like the flipside of communist regimes.
-To begin with, one of the key elements of anti-communist politics under military rule was the protection of a free market economy of which the media were an integral part. Apart from a few government organs the media operated as commercial enterprises and benefited from government schemes to modernize the national economy and technological infrastructure (Fox (ed.), 1988; Tironi, Sunkel, 2000).
- unlike under communism military dictatorships mainly employed censorship to suppress oppositional views to be expressed in public, whereas propaganda with the aim to re educate the masses played only a marginal role, if any.
-military dictatorships do not have an ideology beyond holding on to power
-Meanwhile, the media were able to hibernate without excessive state interference provided they stayed away from sensitive issues and open criticism.
-The best way for the media to avoid the risk of a confrontation with the power holders was to confine themselves to entertainment content. In fact, the dominance of entertainment programs in Latin American television was – and still is unsurpassed.
- Instead, political control is exerted in indirect ways through the ownership structure of media organizations. Most of the major television channels are in the possession of politicians or their families leading to an immense accumulation of power in the hands of a small clique of the rich and powerful.
-Arguably, the success of these new populist leaders can be seen as an indicator for the professionalization of the media who no longer put the interests of their masters first but followed their own logic of news selection and formats of political coverage (Waisbord, 2003).
-‘Television may contribute to the formation of “delegative democracies” and exacerbate personal leadership in political systems that constitutionally confer great powers to the Executive’ (p. 216).
-Even political news are dominated by ‘soft news’ such as celebrity gossip and sport. In this respect little has changed between the media under the old and the new regime.
*Chile and Uruguay are exceptions from the general picture, as political parties were able to maintain their ties with their constituencies during the years of autocratic rule. Consequently, the media are less dominant in electoral politics than in countries where political parties did not take roots aft er the regime change (Espindola, 2006).
Voltmer (2008): Transition from one-party dictatorship (accelerated modernization, e.g., East Africa): East Asia
- However, the common overarching theme of this pathway is development. For decades, the attempt of overcoming poverty and underdevelopment has been used as a justification for curbing democratization and a free and diverse press with the argument that the development project requires centralized and efficient decision making which would be undermined by party-ism and group conflicts (Clark,
2000).
a) East Asia
- Huge conglomerates of industry and bureaucracy, central planning and protectionism from external competition were then the driving forces in the economic development of the so-called tiger states, most notably Taiwan and
South Korea. The media were part of this state-centered industrialization project.
- Even though this role involved strict censorship, the media flourished economically and developed into strong industries that are now key players in the global media market.
- The coincidence of regime change and the digital revolution further strengthened the media’s economic power, as new products met a well educated, media savvy population that has enough purchasing power to generate enormous consumer demand.
-Meanwhile, the state keeps strict control over the media. All main television stations and many high-circulation newspapers are still owned by the government, in some cases even by the military
-However, due to the advanced media infrastructure alternative political actors can circumvent these constraints by using new media technologies that escape central controls.
-politics is structured by personal alliances and clientelism. In this system powerful local patrons offer rewards for political support,
which can even take the form of straightforward vote buying.
- uniqueness of Asian values: Objectivity and neutrality are understood as specifically Western values that emerged from
the European enlightenment and therefore cannot claim universal validity.
-It is obvious that this view of journalism sits uneasy with newsvalues such as conflict and negativism.
Voltmer (2008): main criteria of diversification
- Commercialization
- Role of the state vis-a-vis the media
- Political parallelism
- Professionalization
Voltmer (2008): Transition from one-party dictatorship (accelerated modernization, e.g., East Africa): Africa
-In contrast to the pathways discussed so far, the media have played only a marginal role in the power structure
of African dictatorships for the simple reason that they hardly reach the majority of
the population.
-The media, in particular television and the main newspapers, have always been owned by the state, and this has usually remained so after transition to democratic rule.
-But another important reason for persisting state ownership of the media is the lack of resources. African populations are usually too poor to generate state-independent resources, for example through license fee, not to mention the logistical problems of collecting them
-With only few exceptions the media are closely linked with particular ethnic groups. Hence, the structure of the media system frequently contributes to perpetuating ethnic hostilities rather than providing the kind of information that facilitates mutual tolerance and the willingness to accept compromises.
-One of the main obstacles to journalistic professionalization in Africa is the shortage of resources. Th erefore, radio plays a key role for public communication.
