Expanding comparative media systems analysis from transitional to postcolonial societies

Abstract

Comparative media systems theory has failed to pronounce on trajectories of media development in postcolonial societies in a meaningful way, as media development in postcolonial societies has been analysed from within normative liberal frameworks emanating from North America and Western Europe and later transitional societies in Eastern Europe and East Asia, societies with histories quite separate from the Colonial heritage and legacies that have, and keep, influencing the media–politics nexus in many postcolonial societies. To expand the analysis of media development in postcolonial societies, postcolonial studies have much to add to comparative media systems analysis, not only to expand the analysis beyond the global North but also for the analysis of global disruptions that are challenging normative models of media systems analysis.

Micro media systems

“…A relevant question discussed within research in small media systems research is then of course whether “size” can be said to produce a consistent pattern observable across small media systems or whether other factors are more important for how micro media systems work (Hallin, 2009). A large body of literature has shown how many different factors, such as culture, wealth, sharing language with a big neighbor state (Puppis, 2009), geography (Freeman, 2020), and history and post-coloniality (Papoutsaki and Sundar Harris, 2008; Rodny-Gumede, 2020) and many other factors shape media systems. Therefore, before proceeding to a discussion of the variable size, it is important to first examine how some of these factors shape micro media systems.…”

Media Pluralism and Democratic Consolidation: A Recipe for Success?

“…The importance of linking the analysis of media systems to their contexts and historical trajectories is also acknowledged by Hallin and Mancini (2012: 287) since "comparative analysis is valuable only to the extent that context matters." Some scholars called for developing sets of variables that can help capture the complexities of media cultures in particular contexts away from the excessive focus on comparative categories (see Humphreys 2012;Kumar 2014;Rodney-Gumede 2020).…”

“…7 Recent years have seen growing analyses on how these models can be tested in non-Western environments and whether there is room for new models that would further develop this framework, including calls by Hallin and Mancini for new explanations (see Brüggemann et al 2014; El-Richani 2016; Hadland 2012; Hallin and Papathanassopoulos 2002; Hallin and Mancini 2017; Voltmer 2012; Waisbord 2020). The importance of linking the analysis of media systems to their contexts and historical trajectories is also acknowledged by Hallin and Mancini (2012: 287) since “comparative analysis is valuable only to the extent that context matters.” Some scholars called for developing sets of variables that can help capture the complexities of media cultures in particular contexts away from the excessive focus on comparative categories (see Humphreys 2012; Kumar 2014; Rodney-Gumede 2020).…”

From Chiapas to Palestine: Historicizing Social Movement Media Before and Beyond the Arab Uprisings

“…Scholars such as Khalidi, reflecting on the uprisings, also note that despite Arab public opinion overwhelmingly being in support of Palestine and against normalization with the "apartheid regime" in Israel (Robbins, 2020;United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, 2017), the normalizing positions of some states in the region that pre-dated the 2010-2011 uprisings have become emboldened in the aftermath. He said, "The outcomes of the uprisings have made the status quo relations come out" (Jadaliyya, 2021).…”