Naslov
The marginality of media and communication as an academic field of study in socialist Croatia.

Autori
Popović, Helena

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
IAMCR - Communication, technology and human dignity: Disputed rights, contested truths

Mjesto i datum
Madrid, Španjolska, 07.07.2019. - 11.07.2019

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Socialism, Yugoslavia, Academia, Media and Communication, Marxism

Sažetak
In the Socialist Republic of Croatia that formed a part of The Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1991), there was an absence of any systematic academic study of media and communication. In terms of media practices, after WWII the media were publicly owned, self-regulated and controlled by the Communist Party. The press, radio, and later television were given the function of instilling the socialist spirit into the masses while the main task of journalists was to inform the people of facts from the political domain and the activities needed to establish socialist society. Academic interest for media and communication emerged along with the institutionalization of journalism as a separate program at the University of Zagreb in 1971. It is at that time that a one- year course was introduced at the Faculty of Political Science in collaboration with the publishing house Vjesnik and Zagreb Radio Television. The program was intended for students enrolled in their last years of study or for graduates who had a degree in another field. The idea that the course was long overdue was voiced by Professor Davor Rodin who addressed those in attendance at the opening ceremony by saying: “We are opening the study of journalism at the University of Zagreb with a huge historical delay” (Politička misao, Editorial Information, 1971, 146- 147). This paper focuses on this critical event and it asks: What were the reasons for this delay, as articulated by the main actors involved? Why was the study of journalism established at the Faculty of Political Science and how was the curriculum conceptualized? More extensively: what were different expectations placed on journalists as public workers in socialism and how did it correspond to the ideas developed within the academic community? In a broader theoretical context, it analyses the role of Marxism as a theoretical framework underpinning the political project of the State and its policies, that was, interestingly, marginal within the academic community interested in media and communications. Rather, positivist and functionalist theories were embraced, pushing ‘objectivity’ and ‘unbiased scientific approaches’ to the fore. In terms of methodology, the paper includes content analysis of editorials and articles published in the academic journal Political Thought (1964-) published by the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. Engaging with these questions and illuminating entanglements among different fields and actors, the aim of this paper is to shed light on the trajectories of the field in socialist Croatia.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Informacijske i komunikacijske znanosti, Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA