PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of the project are to develop a policy paper on program strategies in the field of mass media for the Soros Foundations network in close co-operation with media policy-making institutes in the CEECs. The research will focus on the role of the private mass media (mainly television) in securing (or undermining) the newly gained freedom of expression in the CEECs.

Researchers and policy advisors have dedicated only limited attention to the role of private mass media in CEECs despite their commercial success and high audience rates. Most of the research and policy advice in the post-communist countries have focused on the role of the public mass media. This development appears to be very natural, as the public mass media faced a challenging task of their transformation from government-run, propaganda megaliths into public, flexible and pluralitarian institutions independent from the government. The success or failure of their transformation has been a fascinating research topic for most of the media analysts. Thus, most of the research and policy recommendations focused on efforts to hinder manipulation of public media by political authorities motivated by ideological zeal or crude self-interest.

However, the private mass media, especially television stations, in most of the CEECs rapidly gained immense influence on public opinion. Audience statistics show that private television stations started to dominate the developing television markets (mostly due to their entertainment-oriented programmes). However, frequently also their news programmes are more widely viewed than those of public television. Manipulation of freedom of expression in private mass media motivated by economic interests or political aspirations of the media owners has become a major issue. Owners of some media started to get involved directly in political parties or started Berlusconi-like political parties of their own. Institutional mechanisms and political culture in most of the Western democracies protect freedom of expression in private mass media. Yet, most of the CEECs face the rise of private media moguls without appropriate institutional arrangements and developed political culture that would guarantee and protect freedom of expression and non-partisan attitudes not only in public media, but also in private media.

The goal of the policy paper will be to identify institutional arrangements that protect freedom of expression in private mass media. The research will first analyse two Western mass media models (UK and Italy), which present different poles of treatment of the private media. While the UK managed to keep a high-level of independence of private media from political actors, Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi used his television stations as a vehicle into politics. Analysis of the Western models should serve to identify positives and drawbacks of individual solutions, as well as point to relatively successful (British) and unsuccessful (Italian) mode of dealing with private mass media. The objective of the policy recommendations will be to achieve a state when it is less likely that a media group becomes a political actor with own agenda and interests of its own.

Another goal of the research will be to analyse political culture contributive/hostile to the development of critical, non-partisan private mass media. The issue of political culture appears to be particularly important. The experience of public media shows that institutional arrangements alone (very similar to those in Western Europe) cannot guarantee the freedom of expression. Politically immature viewers/listeners in the CEECs seem to be more likely to tolerate manipulation of the mass media and on the other hand, mass media seem to be more likely willing to afford compromising freedom of expression.

RESEARCH TOPIC:
 
There is an almost universal agreement among political and social scientists that “media play a vital and defining role in democracy everywhere it exists.”  However, their role and function has not been settled or precisely defined yet. The media in a democratic system must be “credible and reliable lest they lose their influence and authority.”  Simultaneously, it has not been clear how to achieve this ideal situation and whether it is possible at all. Media are very vulnerable to manipulation for a number of reasons. Therefore, media are not inevitably an agent of democracy. Their role might be both beneficial and detrimental to the cause of democracy. The relationship between media and democracy in CEECs has been even more vulnerable, because the processes of democratisation and strengthening of democratic institutions have not been fully concluded yet, which makes the relationship between media and democracy more acute and tense.

The research will examine the private mass media within particular conditions of transition democracies. The focus will be on exploration of the commitment and effectiveness of the private mass media in achieving the task of being the fourth estate, separate from the three constitutional branches of power: the executive, legislative and judicial. The research will aim at discovering whether the private media behave as an independent watchdog of the government, and more widely of the whole political scene. The research will look at the way they report about domestic politics and at the extent, to which they critically scrutinise the domestic political activities. Comparative analysis of the results will serve to identify the causes of different patterns of media involvement in politics in Poland and Slovakia.

METHODOLOGY:

The research will aim at individual, country-specific as well as general policy recommendations using the comparative research methodology. The methodology will rely on “Most Similar Systems” design, which will have a two-tier character. In the first phase, the research will analyse and compare two above-mentioned Western models to identify possible lessons to be learnt for new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. This introductory comparative analysis will be followed by second and central phase: comparison and analysis of private mass media in Poland and Slovakia. The project’s goal is to become a logical continuation of the media policy papers series prepared within the IPF framework in previous years.

The choice of the “Most Similar Systems” design has been motivated by an ambition to contribute to general conclusions applicable to majority of the CEECs. Strategy of the “Most Similar Systems” design anticipates that “if some important differences are found among otherwise similar countries, then the number of factors attributable to these differences will be sufficiently small to warrant explanation in terms of those differences alone.”

The research will contrast and test Western models with the experience of the CEECs. It will look at the extent to which they followed particular Western models and to the results of such policies. However, the focus will be on intra-systemic comparison between Poland and Slovakia.  The choice of these two post-communist, transitional countries satisfies the requirements of the “Most Similar Systems” design. They share a number of systemic features in terms of their social, political and economic legacy and current development. In particular, private mass media, especially television are relatively recent phenomena in both countries, which developed dual media systems only after the fall of communism. However, there is a number of differences of the mass media development and behaviour, which actually justify comparative analysis of these two cases. Thus, comparing Poland to Slovakia will bring more insight into patterns of development of the private mass media in the CEECs. To mention just few of differences: the history of private mass media in Poland is much longer and richer comparing to Slovakia. Also, the Polish media market is more developed – there are two main private television groups (Polsat and TVN) and a number of smaller, but established TV channels, while there is one dominating TV station in Slovakia. The pattern of involvement of private television stations in Polish politics differs fundamentally from the Slovak case. While in Slovakia TV Markíza was directly involved in political struggles from the very beginning of its broadcasting, Polish TV stations were involved in politics in a subtler and less direct way.

Summary of the plan for fulfilment:
1. Introductory report on Western models based on a comparative analysis of British and Italian mass media models. This stage will also include a review of Western media theories and their implications for the media in the CEECs.
2. Research of the private mass media in Poland and Slovakia (case studies). Monitoring and analysis of political content of the TV programs.
3. Comparative analysis of the Polish and Slovak cases focused on identifying the causes of different patterns of media involvement in politics.
4. Country-specific as well as general policy recommendations based on comparative analysis of the Polish and Slovak cases studies in the light of the findings of analysis of Western media models.

Project Timetable