Editors: Evangelia Psychogiopoulou
Book: Media Policies Revisited: The Challenge for Media Freedom and Independence
Title of article: The National Versus the European: Croatian Roadmap to Media Freedom and Independence
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2014
ISBN 978-1-137-33784-9
The book is the result of a three-year FP7 project that comparatively studied media systems and media policies in fourteen European countries, particularly focusing on media freedom and independence. The book takes a closer look at policy processes and regulatory patterns, court decisions regarding freedom and independence, media finance and business models, and journalistic profession in contemporary media systems.
In their contribution titled The National Versus the European: Croatian Roadmap to Media Freedom and Independence Švob-Đokić and Bilić analyse the interplay between the national and European public media policy and regulation levels in Croatia. The question of media freedom and independence is contextualized in the transitional context. This context was marked by chaotic and largely inefficient economic reform along with radical changes in social values caused by the strong globalising influences and the overall reorganisation of media communication processes. Considering the small local media production, new communication flows have brought forth an increase in dependence on transnational media companies and imported products which formally support media freedom and independence, but simultaneously monopolise media production and content.
