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4 Communication Theory & Research
Second, national history accounts for the fact that, despite a commitment to
basic freedoms of the press, each media system has a significant relationship to
the state and the political system that seems unusual, even sometimes undesir-
able, through American eyes. At least these relations are more transparent than
they are in the United States. There is no standard model for arranging these
relationships, but it means that politics does tend to have some acknowledged
interest in media performance and some means of influence. At the same time
there are mechanisms in place for managing this relationship to ensure either
a degree of independence or of transparency in the arrangements for linking
politics with media.
The conditions described have also resulted in persistent concerns about polit-
ical diversity and balance in the media. This has been a legitimate object of
policy making in many European countries. Various forms of economic inter-
vention have been instituted, with particular reference to the newspaper press
(broadcasting being separately regulated in this respect) and in some cases limits
have been set to the degree of concentration of ownership. With varying degrees
of effectiveness, many countries also have adopted self-regulatory mechanisms
such as press councils and ombudsmen (see Bertrand, 2003). There have also
been safeguards in some cases for the rights of journalists within their employ-
ing organization.
In most European media systems, the most distinctive feature, as seen from
outside is the existence of a large publicly financed broadcasting service along-
side offerings by private channels (although the ratio of public to private is now
being reversed). The origins of public control of broadcasting (formerly often
under monopoly control) are political as well as technical. Public broadcasting
was and remains an important means of linking the political system with the
media system. However powers of control have mainly been used to ensure that
broadcasting does not upset the balance of advantage between established polit-
ical interests. Public broadcasting has been an object of more or less continuing
and equally balanced praise and criticism and is continually under review, espe-
cially now that it offends against reigning neo-liberal principles and requires new
justification in an age of abundance and freedom of consumer choice. The most
basic form of justification is that it ensures that one media sector at least is
accountable to the public and that some public space is preserved for cultural and
informational policies that the market cannot achieve. Whatever the balance of
argument, there is no doubt that the taken-for-granted presence of a public media
sector has left its mark on the agenda of European communication research.
The particular geography of Europe has consequences other than those men-
tioned. The boundaries set by nation states and often by language create divi-
sions but also provide some natural protection against international competition
and incursion, except where small countries are overshadowed by a large same-
language neighbour as in the examples of Ireland, Switzerland, Austria and
French-speaking Belgium. Within a number of countries, differences of language
and historic region have persisted and are either reflected in the media structure
or give rise to pressure for recognition. For many countries, it is hard and some-
times impossible to maintain a viable audio-visual sector without heavy reliance
on imports. The winds of globalization have blown rather coldly across Europe