MÉDIAPOLITIKAI TRENDEK KELET-KÖZÉP-EURÓPÁBAN 1989–2008
Media policy and media politics in East Central Europe: Issues and Trends 1989–2008

Summary/Abstract: The political transformations in 1989–91 put an end to the state socialist regimes’ monopolistic control over the media. Despite the formal declaration of media freedom, the creation of democratic legal and institutional frameworks, and the privatization of the majority of press and media outlets, however, media freedom was repeatedly challenged in the post-transformation period by both political and business elites. This paper attempts to explore the status and trends of democratic performance of the news media with a focus on political and commercial pressures in East Central Europe in the period 1989-2008. It offers an overview of the role of the media in democratic consolidation, explains the most salient media policy issues and trends, and puts forward a series of media policy proposals that aim at enhancing the consolidation of media freedom in the countries of East Central Europe.

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