From Europeanisation to EU-ization: The Media Case

It is widely argued that the success of the European Union has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability, and prosperity in Europe, and that this is the outcome of the Europeanization process. In this paper we support the idea that although Europeanization is a fashionable concept, it is also a contested one. We consider, among others, that the main achievement of the European Union as harmonization of the regulatory frameworks among its 27 member states, is the outcome of an EU-ization process that has gradually developed in the 30 years at least. We use the case of media regulation initiated by the European Union to show that the case of EU-ization, at least in the communications landscape, seems to be the driver of the incremental engagement of the EU in the sector

Greek ERT: State or Public Service Broadcaster?

The chapter examines the state of public service broadcasting in Greece. While most Southern European public broadcasting systems are to some degree subject to political influence and dependence, in the case of Greece, public broadcaster ERT is, after four decades of deregulation and the break-up of its broadcasting monopoly, still considered by many as ‘state’ rather than a ‘public’ broadcaster. This wide public perception stems from ERT’s one-time role as a mouthpiece of government propaganda. As both radio and TV broadcasting were launched under dictatorships (the late 1930s Metaxas dictatorship and the mid-1960s Colonels rule respectively), they have been regarded as ‘arms of the state.’ Post-dictatorship politics and the restoration of Parliament in 1974 saw the Conservatives (New Democracy) and Socialists (PASOK) dominating the political scene, accusing each other of exercising too much government control over state broadcasting media. Today’s left-wing SYRIZA government also attempts to influence ERT’s output, which is at odds with the digital, deregulated electronic media landscape and consequent abundance of channels. This situation has arisen largely from the political tensions in Greek society since the Second World War. These tensions, combined with the absence of a strong civil society and the market, have made the state an autonomous and dominant factor in Greek society that has to take on additional politico-ideological function. The state plays an active role in the formation of the Greek economy and policy and it is relatively autonomous from society. This makes the system less self-regulatory than countries with developed capitalism, such as northern EU states, Britain or the US. Lack of self-regulation spurs the state to intervene in the politico-ideological sphere and thus diffuse its repressive mechanisms. It is in this context that the chapter explains the rise of power of the media, and the decline of power of journalists and, of course, of ERT itself

Event- , politics-, and audience-driven news: a comparison of populism in European media coverage in 2016 and 2017

This chapter focuses on trends in reporting over time. It examines the presence of populist key messages in “news coverage of immigration” and “commentaries on current political events” in European newspapers at two points in time, namely spring 2016 and spring 2017. The chapter has a twofold aim. First, it will explore similarities and differences in the populist content of European newspapers between the two periods. Second, it identifies a set of extra-media and intra-media explanatory factors contributing to the understanding of the emerging differences in a year-to-year comparison. The chapter by Blassnig et al. in this volume provides more detailed information about the newspaper stories we content-analyzed. Two types of stories are analyzed: ‘news articles on immigration’, and ‘editorials commenting on current political events’ irrespective of the topic. While the chapter by Blassnig et al. pooled and jointly investigated the data from 2016 and 2017, and the chapter by Maurer et al. in this volume, used only content data from 2017, this chapter will evaluate and compare the data from 2016 and 2017. These two periods are seen as two phases of a news and policy cycle that responds to real world cues. The two phases are understood as stages of a crisis, which offer more or less favorable opportunity structures for populist discourse (Moffitt, 2015). As stated in the introduction to this volume, a whole range of contextual factors influence the populist worldview of crises and, subsequently, the use of populist communication in news reports and commentaries about theses crises

Politicians’ Perceptions of Populism and the Media: A Cross-National Study Based on Semi-Structured Interviews

Why is it importam to study politicians' perceptions of populism? The way in which something is regarded and understood is of the utmost importance for its impact on politics and society in general. Given the complexities in defining 'populism' and understanding its meaning, and in view of it being commonly referred to as a 'vague', 'slippery', 'elusive' concept (e.g., Canovan, 1981, 1984; Taggart, 2000; Barr, 2009; Lucardie, 2009; Woods, 2014), this study addresses the concept and its potential implications through the views of politicians who represent some of the most importam politicaI parties in 11 European countries and who are therefore important opinion-makers. The main objective is to discern what politicians from the various countries and different types of politicai parties understand by populism and how they perceive the causes and implications of these phenomena in their countries, and, more broadly, in European and global contexts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Why are “others” so polarized? Perceived political polarization and media use in 10 countries.

This study tests the associations between news media use and perceived political polarization, conceptualized as citizens’ beliefs about partisan divides among major political parties. Relying on representative surveys in Canada, Colombia, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Norway, United Kingdom and United States, we test whether perceived polarization is related to the use of television news, newspaper, radio news, and online news media. Data show that online news consumption is systematically and consistently related to perceived polarization, but not to attitude polarization, understood as individual attitude extremity. In contrast, the relationships between traditional media use and perceived and attitude polarization is mostly country dependent. An explanation of these findings based on exemplification is proposed and tested in an experimental design

The development of digital television in Greece

The development of digital television in Greece is in its infancy. In effect, there is no digital cable TV, while the public broadcaster, ERT, has only recently started digital transmissions on the terrestrial frequencies. On the contrary, digital satellite television has presented some development, but this is due to the only pay-TV operator in Greece, Nova - after a wounded digital war with an early competitor, Alpha Digital. However, total pay-TV penetration, both analogue and digital, is less than nine per cent of TV households, one of the lowest pay-TV penetration rates in Europe. This paper will try to discuss the development of digital television in Greece. It will trace the players, the economics and the politics associated with this new television medium, and it will argue that the domestic market, due to its size and peculiarities, is difficult to create the needed economies of scale of the development of digital television

Privacy 2.0

We live in the era of change. In this world, privacy is not a static concept, but instead has a dynamic component. Overall, it becomes clear that the public and private are not defined in the same manner as in the past and as in the actual world, while our personal information has become a commodity that can raise our visibility in the social media driven world

El boom de los medios de comunicación y la investigación en comunicación de masas en Grecia

L'estudi comença amb una introducció referent al context historicosocial de Grècia. S'hi fa una referència especial a la manca d'anàlisis i d'informacions fialbes sobre els mitjans de comunicació, i s'intenta cercar les causes d'aquesta situació. Recentment, gràcies a un ràpid desenvolupament dels mitjans de comunicació a Grècia, s'han creat departaments en algunes univesitats. Els pocs estudis que hi ha sobre el tema han sorgit des de camps com el dret o la ciència política

El boom dels mitjans de comunicació i la investigació en comunicació de masses a Grècia

L'estudi comença amb una introducció referent al context historicosocial de Grècia. S'hi fa una referència especial a la manca d'anàlisis i d'informacions fiables sobre els mitjans de comunicació, i s'intenta cercar les causes d'aquesta situació. Recentment, gràcies a un ràpid desenvolupament dels mitjans de comunicació a Grècia, s'han creat departaments de comunicació en algunes universitats, d'aquesta manera s'hi ha iniciat una recerca incipient. Els pocs estudis que hi ha sobre el tema han sorgit des de camps com el dret o la ciència política. Existeixen alguns estudis sobre aspectes culturals i psicològics de la comunicació. S'hi inclou una bibliografia bàsica, juntament amb els programes de les universitats que ofereixen estudis de comunicació.El estudio empieza con una introducción referente al contexto histórico-social de Grecia. Se hace un hincapié especial en la carencia de unos análisis y de unas informaciones fiables sobre los medios de comunicación, y se hace un intento de buscar las causas de ello. Recientemente, gracias al rápido desarrollo que han experimentado los medios de comunicación en Grecia, se han creado departamentos de comunicación en algunas universidades, y con ello se ha iniciado una incipiente investigación. Los pocos estudios que existen sobre el tema han surgido en campos como los del derecho o la ciencia política. Existen algunos estudios sobre aspectos culturales y psicológicos de la comunicación. Se incluye una bibliografia básica, junto con los programas de las universidades que imparten estudios de comunicación.The study begins with an introduction to the Greek historico-social context. Particular reference is made to the lack of reliable analyses, data and information on the communication media, and an attempt is made to determine the causes of this situation. Recently, thanks to rapid development of the media in Greece, communication departments have been set up in some universities, an indication that research in this field has now been initiated. The few studies on this topic to date have emerged from the fields of law and political sciences. There are also some studies on psychological and cultural aspects of communication. A basic bibliography is included, together with the syllabuses of those universities offering courses in communication