This article builds a theoretical model for comparative analysis of media culture based on the notion of genre, and applies it to a comparative analysis of television as a cultural form in socialist and post-socialist Croatia. The paper explores how the shares and generic composition of program modes of information, entertainment and fiction change in time, and how the contribution of different genres to program flow and modes varies with the changes of political, economic and technological context. Longitudinal trends in television flows are comparatively evaluated in relation to trends in genre developments in Europe and their relationship to the changes in the cultural role of television. The results show a decrease in the information and an increase in the fiction mode between socialism and democracy, with some similarities of the Croatian and western television culture in relation to genre and mode composition and flow, albeit with a belated introduction of neo television genres. Notwithstanding the limited freedom of expression and ideological content, which necessarily influenced socialist media culture, television as a cultural form in Croatia developed in concert with the global program flows. The article is based on original content analysis of television schedules where the unit of analysis is a televisions program listing. The analogue television universe is represented by longitudinal data for 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, and 2009. The stratified systematic sample (N=3934) for each chosen year consists of two constructed weeks from a universe of all listed programs broadcast on all free to air television channels with a national reach license.
The article presents the analysis of the Croatian post-socialist media system within the comparative framework of Hallin and Mancini’s approach. The media system and the political system are analyzed with the cluster of variables, interpreting the development of the media market, political parallelism, journalistic professionalism, and the role of the state in relation to the existing theoretical framework. The paper demonstrates a perfect fit with the Mediterranean polarized pluralist model of media system, and argues that the Croatian case disproves the proposition that Hallin and Mancini’s model cannot be applied to new democracies in post-communist Europe. The communist period in Croatia provided nuance to an already existing framework of media system, while the post-communist transition after 1990 and ensuing democracy continue to exhibit the historically determined relationships between politics and the media. The article argues in conclusion that ignorance of the true nature of media systems and social and political frameworks that shape them are the reason for the failed internationally assisted democratization processes and successful implementation of foreign media regulation models.
Journalism is known to be culturally specific in historical terms, while cross-country studies have demonstrated differences in journalistic milieus in different political regimes. This article applies a multilevel, cross-national comparative research design to explore the patterns and sources of influence that act on the professional practices of European journalists as well as the ways they differ across different media systems. The research is more broadly framed within the mediatization approach, and it aims to explore the relationship between increased media logic and journalistic practices within specific digital mediascapes. This study also identifies the ways in which journalistic practices are influenced by both the macro level of the structural framework of the media system and the mezzo level of media organization. The institutional framework defines the digital media system/mediascape in terms of four dimensions: contemporary multimedia markets, globalization processes, cultural industry, and institutional inclusiveness. The data concerning the influences on journalism are drawn from surveys conducted in 28 Western, Central, and Eastern European countries as part of the 2012–2015 Worlds of Journalism Study. A cluster analysis produced four digital media systems. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression confirmed the predominant influence of structural levels on the perceptions of the influences on journalism – the mezzo organizational level and macro level of the digital media system additionally explained the variance of the contextual influences on journalistic practices beyond individual differences. Variations in the different influences are shown between media system clusters. Moreover, the study introduces new questions regarding the mediatization of journalism and the mediatized condition.
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