Comparing Media Systems
| Author | Daniel C. Hallin, Paolo Mancini |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | politics, comparative analysis, media systems |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
|
Publication date
|
2004 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 342 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 443366685 |
| 302.23 |
Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics (2004), by Daniel C. Hallin and Paolo Mancini, is a seminal study in the field of international comparative media system research. The study compares media systems of 18 Western democracies including nine Northern European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland), five Southern European countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) and four Atlantic countries (Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States).
The conceptual framework developed in this study turned out to be an important contribution to the field of the comparative media systems research because it provides a systematic and applicable approach to analyze differences and similarities of the relationships between media and politics.
Since the publication of Hallin and Mancini’s book in 2004, there has been a vivid academic discussion (Recent developments), particularly with regards to the adequacy of their suggested framework for understanding variations between different systems around the world, located within different cultural, social, and/or political contexts. As a consequence, a flourishing progression within the field of comparative media system research can be stated.
The field of comparative media system research has a long tradition reaching back to the study Four Theories of the Press by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm from 1956. This book was the origin of the academic debate on comparing and classifying media systems, whereas it was normatively biased and strongly influenced by the ideologies of the Cold War era. Though this approach has often been criticized (e.g. because of its ethnocentricity, inconsistent structure, questionable typologies, or its scant empirical basis of the analysis), it was a starting point for following normative media theories and the development of the field.
Comparative media system research has been subject to several changes since its establishment. The number of categories to describe media systems grew and approaches got more complex. Another trend is that researchers factor in political systems more intensively to explain and compare media systems. A more fundamental development is the shift from normative to empirically based approaches.
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