Structural Changes and Organisations in the Print Media Markets of Post-Communist East Central Europe (original) (raw)

Media Investments and their Impact on the Media Market and the General Public in Central Eastern Europe

Western European investors had a key role in the transformation of CEE media systems, after 1990. This process was shaped by economic, cultural and political factors, while the results and quality of the change also affected these factors. Purpose of the project is to analyze this process in the media markets of the V4, from the aspect of media economics, law and journalism, to identify the common characteristics and draw the conclusions, with a view to developing better media policy solutions. The research is carried out in V4 countries. The media markets of the V4 under review also developed in the same direction after 1990: on many occasions, the foreign media investors came from almost the same circles, these pursued similar strategies, and their media investments in the region were often jointly managed. The regulatory and legal environments of the V4 under review are also comparable.

Media Ownership and Commercial Pressures. Final Report for the ERC-funded project Media and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

2013

This report summarizes the main outcomes of the research conducted within Pillar 1 of the MDCEE project, entitled Media Ownership and Commercial Pressures. The primary goal of the project’s first research area was to investigate the market structures underpinning the conditions of news media organizations in Central and Eastern Europe and consequently to analyse the influence of economic factors on the relationship between the media and democracy in this region. While the overall scope of Pillar 1 was broadened in the course of the MDCEE project (2009-2013), and also included explorations in the area of administrative and regulatory capacities of the state vis-à-vis the market in general and the telecommunications markets in particular (see Stetka 2012a), this report focuses specifically on the original core issues of Pillar 1. It attempts to present a systematic and comparative overview of media ownership structures, as well as other important features and tendencies shaping the character of news media markets in the ten Central and Eastern European countries studied by the MDCEE project, particularly with respect to the 2008/2009 financial crisis, which has had a profound and dramatic effect on ownership patterns and on the overall situation of the media in this region.

The Influence of Market, State and Civil Society on the Media. Short Version

The paper provides insight into a study prepared at the Institute for Broadcasting Economics at the University of Cologne in a very succinct form. Its primary objective consisted of developing a methodology to describe and compare different media systems. The distinguishing feature here is the influence that market, state and civil society exert on the media (Chapter 1). The influence of these three principal provision methods is determined separately for the different media types and the individual value levels of the value-added chains of the media, and subsequently summarized in a weighted average of the German media system (Chapter 2). The changes in the German media system from 1950 to 2020 are thereafter reported in a concise form (Chapter 3). Hence three central findings become evident: 1. State influence on the media over the entire period considered was relatively limited; 2. the number of media types increased throughout the period (“differentiation” of the media); 3. the influence of the market on all media types increased (“commercialization” or “marketization” of the media).

The Media Industry's Structural Transformation in Capitalism and the Role of the State: Media Economics in the Age of Digital Communications

tripleC Communication, capitalism & critique, 2016, Jg. 14, H. 1, S. 18-47, 2016

This paper discusses how the capitalist media industry has been structurally transformed in the age of digital communications. It takes an approach that is grounded in the Marxian critique of the political economy of the media. It draws a distinction between media capital, media-oriented capital, media infrastructure capital and media-external capital as the forms of capital in the media industry. The article identifies four capital strategies that media capital tends to use in order to try to maximise profits: a) The substitution of "old" by "new" media technology, b) the introduction of new transmission channels for "old" media products, c) the definition of new property rights for media sectors and networks, d) the reduction of production and transaction costs. The drive to profit maximization is at the heart of the capitalist media industry's structural transformation. This work also discusses the tendency to the universalization of the media system in the digital age and the economic contradictions arising from it. It identifies activity fields of the media industry's structural transformation and shows how the concentration of the capitalist media markets is an essential, contradictory and inherent feature of the capitalist media system and its structural transformation. The paper identifies six causes of why capital seeks to employ capital strategies that result in the media industry's structural transformation. They include market saturation, overaccumulation, the tendency of the profit rate to fall, capital-concentration, competition pressure, and advertising. The paper finally discusses the role of the state as an agent of capital in general and media capital in particular. It discusses the role of the state in privatisations, neoliberal deregulation, the formation of national competitive states, and various benefits that the state provides for media capital. This contribution shows that capital and capitalism are the main structural transformers of the media and communications system. For understanding these transformations, we need an approach that is grounded in Marx's critique of the political economy.

Transformation of Traditional Media Markets in Local Environments

2011

New media platforms have impacted the practices of traditional media in local environments. New media has created new opportunities for news organizations to participate in unique storytelling experiences and novel practices of audience engagement in global, national, regional and local environments. Many developments have raised questions, such as: Will new media platforms replace traditional media? This paper is based on a survey of students in Slovenia regarding the role of new media and the survey on usage of new media in local election campaign in 2010. An empirical analysis which is divided in two parts is the basis for the conclusions. In fi rst part we analyzed the consumption of diff erent media from younger generation. The second part of the analysis gives us the information about consumption of new media from the candidates in local election campaign in municipality of Maribor. The empirical data supports the hypotheses of the paper. First, traditional media requires main...

Theoretical Underpinnings—Political Economy Approach to Media

Political economy as it applies to the media has historically found itself divided into two distinct approaches of study: The socialist democratic tradition of Europe that saw broadcasting dominated by State-funded public service broadcasters such as the British Broadcasting Corporation following the Marxist approach, and the contrasting completely commercial American media that drove studies in political economy of the media towards the economics of media ownership. In recent years, however, globally the role of public service media has gradually lessened; commercial media provides much of the content. Therefore, in today’s era of globalisation, a lot of scholarship regarding the political economy of the media has focused on the commodification of information and media artifacts, which are produced and distributed for profit by commercial organisations in a capitalistic setup. The commercialization process including the development of the Internet itself as commercial space, in tandem with the growth of advertising and public relations, has propelled a consumer culture that Wasko (2005) terms as “cultural capitalism”, and which accurately describes the current media landscape. Video made by MHRD: http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/ahl.php?csrno=24 Paper Name: Media and Globalisation Module Name: Political Economy Approach to Media

MEDIA COMPANIES AS ECONOMIC UNITS

Associated Asia Research Foundation, 2018

In order to carry out production and distribution activities media firms must be organized and operated as economic units. A large number of decisions taken by media organizations involve resource and financial issues. In this context the paper discusses the requirements of media, the factors that affect the entire media, the economic and financial factors that affect specific media and the challenges managers of media must contend with in a fast changing media environment where technological changes have progressively led to what is known as a buyer's market.

Commercialization and Privatization of Media in Southeast Europe: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

This article discusses recent institutional changes in Southeast European media systems with a special emphasis on Croatia. All media were trapped between socio-historical specificities and the normative standards of imported, 'civilizing' liberal values. After the fall of state socialism, faith in the 'invisible hand of the market' formed the dominant discourse. The market economy that emerged was (and still is) viewed as inextricably linked to democracy as a political system. In the field of media, Social Responsibility Theory was embraced, which positions the media both as a public good within democracy and as a commodity exchangeable in the market. I argue that this twofold approach has proven to be unsustainable in Southeast Europe, at least if we want to advance the public role of the media in democracies. Analysis of the Croatian case -including media policy frameworks, media ownership and finances, media self-regulation, media content, journalism as a profession, and media audiences -shows that commercialization and privatization have been devastating. Adhering to the public role of the media requires 'denaturalizing' the realities of commercial media and holding on to the idea that radical change is possible.