engleski

The Return of State Power to Media Policies: Conditioning Media Pluralism in Croatia

Media pluralism is a complex construct dependent on legal variables such as the level of the protection of media freedom and independence ; economic variables such as media ownership, competition and transparency ; political variables such as the control and influence on media production ; and social variables such as social inclusiveness, legal culture and implementation. Media pluralism provides an ideal example for studying how society, law and legal culture complement and co-construct media and communication in specific contexts. This paper takes a socio-historical and socio-cultural approach to enlighten the conditions of media pluralism in Croatia. The media were a central part of the wider democratization and market liberalisation process in the post-communist transition. The development of media policies can be divided into three main periods. First, between 1990 and 1999 marked by the state-building process. Second, between 2000 and 2003 when television and telecommunications markets were starting to liberalise. Third, between 2004 and 2013 marked by the EU accession process. In this paper we argue that Croatia exhibits certain characteristics of a new stage in the development of media policies. A noticeable shift from EU alignment and soft state power towards shaping media pluralism under the justification of budget cuts and the protection of national interests is visible. This leads us to argue for the return of state power in directing media policies and conditioning media pluralism in Croatia. Analytically, we argue that state power should be viewed as a social relation (Jessop, 2016) and outcome of socio-historical configurations specifically relating to an undeveloped legal culture despite the formal acceptance of international legal standards. Empirically, we focus on social inclusiveness and political independence in Croatia, based on the results of the Media Pluralism Monitor project.

Media ; state power ; media policy ; media pluralism

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