The Media Systems in Europe: Continuities and Discontinuities (Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication)

This open access book traces the evolution of the European media landscape in the last 30 years, from 1990 to 2020. It is based on the theoretical classical hypotheses of regional media systems provided by Hallin and Mancini and at the same time puts them to test. The book further defines the proportions between geocultural patterns – national, regional, European, and global – to outline evolutionary trends in media landscapes. It analyzes to which degree European media have become more European, in the historical course of administrative unification and breaks the results down into concrete indexes and indicators. The book discusses the media systems of the member states of the European Union through a regional perspective, identifying similarities, differences, as well as their convergence in the digital age. It sheds light on the evolution of media systems in Europe, introduces existing relevant theoretical perspectives, and offers an overview of the new developments in European media. The book will appeal to students, researchers, and scholars of political science, communication, media, cultural, and policy studies, as well as practitioners and professionals interested in a better understanding of the European media landscape's evolution. Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 Introduction 8 1 Introduction 9 2 The Heritage of Hallin and Mancini Today 10 3 Structure of the Media Market: What About Digital Media? 13 4 The Role of the State: Fading Glory, But Still Powerful as Regulator 14 5 Journalistic Professionalism: A Prerequisite of Media Trust? 15 6 The Organization of the Book 16 References 17 On Western and Eastern Media Systems: Continuities and Discontinuities 21 1 Introduction 22 2 Conjectures on Eastern European Media 22 3 Media Systems in Transition? 28 4 Discussion and Concluding Remarks 35 References 37 The Media in Europe 1990–2020 41 1 Introduction 42 2 The Press Market: A Downward Trend in Sales and Readership 43 2.1 The Press Goes Digital ... 47 2.2 Strong Evidence of an Ongoing Shift Toward Online Advertising 47 2.3 Toward a New Model for the Press Industry 49 3 Radio: Still Resilient Across Europe 50 4 TV: Continuities and Challenges in the Era of “Digital Disruption” 53 4.1 The Rise of Thematic Channels 53 4.2 Public Broadcasters: Defending Their Position in the New Television Universe 55 4.2.1 PSB and Public Funding 57 5 Commercial TV Channels 60 5.1 Digital Threats/Multi-channel and Multiplatform Environment 61 5.2 Advertising Market 62 6 Media Ownership Concentration 64 7 Steady Increase of Digital Connectivity 65 8 Concluding Remarks 68 References 70 The Media in Northwestern Europe in the Last Three Decades 74 1 Introduction 74 2 Main Characteristics of the Northwestern European Region 75 3 Development of the Markets 76 3.1 The Press Market 76 3.2 Broadcasting 78 3.2.1 Public Service Broadcasting 78 3.3 Development of Radio Markets 83 3.4 Development of Television Markets 84 3.5 The Rise of Thematic Channels 85 4 Media Concentration 87 5 Political Parallelism 88 6 Journalistic Professionalism 90 7 The Media and the State 91 8 The Internet Shifts the Paradigm 93 8.1 Platformisation of the Internet 94 9 Trust in the Media 95 10 The Northwestern European Media Model in Comparison 97 11 Conclusions 97 References 98 Nordic Media Systems 103 1 Introduction  104 2 An Evolving Institutional Model in the Nordics 105 3 The Media Landscape of the Nordics 107 3.1 The Newspaper Market 107 3.2 Broadcasting 108 3.3 Journalistic Professionalism 111 3.4 Links Between the Media and Political Parties 112 3.5 The Role of the State: Government Influence 113 4 Nordic Media Transformation 115 4.1 Changing Consumer Behaviours 116 4.2 A Corporatist Model and the Role of Citizens 117 4.3 Digitalisation 118 4.4 Changing Content 120 4.5 Commercialisation and Advertising 122 5 Trust in the Media 124 5.1 Varying Levels of Trust 124 5.2 Fake News and the Media 126 6 Nordic Media Patterns in Perspective 128 References 131 The Media in Southern Europe: Continuities, Changes and Challenges 136 1 Introduction 136 2 The Media Market 137 2.1 Low Levels of Newspaper Circulation 137 2.2 Radio Small but Trustful 140 2.3 Television Is Still Dominant 141 2.4 Going Broadband, Even Unevenly 143 3 Political Parallelism 144 4 Instrumentalisation of Media 148 5 Politicisation of Public Broadcasting 152 6 Limited Professionalisation 154 7 “Savage Deregulation” 156 8 Concluding Remarks: Continuities and Discontinuities 157 References 159 The Media in Eastern Europe 166 1 Introduction 167 2 The Media Market 168 2.1 Ever-Decreasing Levels of Newspaper Readership 168 2.2 Radio: The Most Trusted Medium 171 2.3 Television Is the Dominant Medium 172 2.4 Catching up with the Rest of Europe on Broadband 176 3 Is There a Comprehensive Eastern European Media Model? Similarities and Differences 178 4 Political Parallelism 180 5 Instrumentalization of Media 182 6 State Intervention and Curbing the Freedom of Media 184 7 Limited Professionalization 186 8 Concluding Remarks 188 References 191 Conclusions 194 References 196