Page 39 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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Comparing Media Systems

Inthischapterweproposeaframeworkforcomparingmediasystems.We
propose, specifically, four major dimensions according to which media
systemsinWesternEuropeandNorthAmericacanusefullybecompared:
(1) the development of media markets, with particular emphasis on the
strong or weak development of a mass circulation press; (2) political
parallelism; that is, the degree and nature of the links between the media
and political parties or, more broadly, the extent to which the media sys-
tem reflects the major political divisions in society; (3) the development
of journalistic professionalism; and (4) the degree and nature of state
intervention in the media system. Note that each of these can be seen
in some sense as a single, quantitative dimension. That is, we can speak
about high or low levels of press circulation, political parallelism, jour-
nalistic professionalism, or state intervention. But we shall also see that
each of these dimensions is complex and that many more subtle qualita-
tivedistinctionsbecomeimportantaswebegintoanalyzeconcretemedia
systems. In many cases we will also introduce related, minor dimensions
along which media systems may vary. Ours is not, of course, the first
attempt to set forth a framework of this sort. We have tried to build on
previous work, refining it based on our attempt to make sense of the
patterns of difference and similarity we have found among the countries
covered here, and to link these patterns to the social and political con-
text in which they evolved. One version particularly close to our own is
that of Blumler and Gurevitch (1995). Blumler and Gurevitch proposed,
originally in 1975, four dimensions for comparative analysis: (1) degree
of state control over mass media organization; (2) degree of mass media
partisanship; (3) degree of media-political elite integration; and (4) the
nature of the legitimating creed of media institutions. Their first di-
mension coincides with our fourth; their second and third dimensions

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