"This books draws a comparative balance of twenty years' international media assistance in the five countries of the Western Balkans. The central question was what happens to imported models when they are transposed onto the newly evolving media systems of transitional societies. Albania, Bosnia-Her...zegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia undertook a range of media reforms to conform with accession requirements of the European Union and the standards of the Council of Europe, among others. The essays explore the nexus between the democratic transformation of the media and international media assistance. The cross-national analysis concludes that the effects of international assistance are highly constrained by the local context. From today's vantage point it becomes obvious, that scaling media assistance does not necessarily improve outcomes. The experiences in the region suggest that imported solutions have not been very cognitive in all aspects of local conditions but international strategies tent to be rather schematic and lacked strategic approaches to promote media policy stability, credible media reform and implementation. The book offers valuable insights into the nature and effects of media assistance and the strategies deployed by international aid agencies, local political forces, media professionals, civil society organizations and other actors." (Publisher)
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"This report, which follows the Council of Europe’s list of “Indicators for Media in a Democracy”, intends to provide an analysis of the current media situation based on the standards upheld by this list. The aim of this report is to raise awareness on the status of affairs in the media scene ...for an array of actors, such as policymakers, government representatives, media professionals, professional associations, media experts, and civil society. The report is based on methodology that uses varied instruments and feedback from different relevant actors that affect legal, political, economic, and professional environment for media operation. Apart from collecting and classifying statistical data from publicly available sources, existing research, and surveys, the primary research consisted also in legal analysis conducted for the purpose of comparing Council of Europe standards to domestic legislation, carrying out of surveys with stakeholders, and in-depth interviews with key players in the media fi eld, judges, government representatives, parliament, and public institutions. Using a specially designed questionnaire, a survey was conducted on a sample of 110 editors-in-chief, media owners, and journalists of different media outlets across the country, including representatives from minorities. In-depth interviews were conducted with media owners, media managers, and editors of mainstream media outlets, as well as with other actors with direct input and knowledge on media scene, such as the Audiovisual Media Authority, public broadcaster RTSH, journalist trade union, professional associations, the Media Council, journalists from various media, etc." (Introduction, p.7-8)
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"Über die Wandlungsprozesse, die derzeit in der osteuropäischen Medienlandschaft stattfinden, ist wenig bekannt. Die Diskussion und die Entwicklung in allen ehemaligen Ostblockländern ist von besonderem wissenschaftlichen Interesse und von praktischer Bedeutung - auch vor dem Hintergrund der gesa...mteuropäischen Integration. Das Buch gibt Antworten auf die Fragen nach dem Wandel der Medienorganisation, dem Wandel der ökonomischen Situation der einzelnen Medien im jeweiligen Land, dem Wandel des Medienangebots, dem Wandel der Mediennutzung bei Rundfunk, Film und Printmedien und nicht zuletzt zur Veränderung der Beziehung Staat-Medien." (Klappentext)
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