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donate Handmaiden of democracy or market commodity?
The media in central and eastern Europe twenty years after 1989
editorial Those in central and eastern Europe who, after 1989, saw the media as the handmaiden of democracy and the conventional watchdog on power, today have become targets for new and subtler forms of censorship, writes Eurozine guest-editor Judith Vidal-Hall. [ more ]
A shifting media landscape
An interview with Miklós Haraszti
interview On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Miklós Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, speaks to Judith Vidal-Hall about the shifting media landscape in the post-communist countries of central and eastern Europe. [ more ]
From spring to autumn
The Estonian media post-independence
Estonia The Estonian media has disappointed hopes that it would be a model of its kind in the post-Soviet space. Estonia's size means personal sympathies override political views, while a tiny market makes advertising sales paramount. [ more ]
From patriotism to plurality
The Polish media journey
Poland After an ebullient beginning post-1989, the Polish media appears to have lost its impetus for reform. Media law has yet to catch up with the facts on the ground and constitutional assurances of free expression are not translated into legal independence. [ more ]
Danger! Men at work
European legislation and free expression in Hungary
EU Intended to protect vulnerable groups from hate speech, the new EU directive on Audiovisual Media Services may allow governments to indulge in a little censorship – something the newer democracies are only too familiar with, warns Péter Molnár. [ more ]
Central Europe's laboratory of freedom
The quest for a media culture in Slovakia
slovakia The Slovak media has had a turbulent career since 1989. But although the most serious challenges to press freedom have been seen off, a media culture free of the legacies of the past has yet to develop, writes Martin Simecka. [ more ]
The market takes all
Czech Republic: Playing the game of media trumps
Czech Republic So convincingly have economic imperatives taken over from editorial priorities in the Czech Republic, that even the quality press has been affected by "tabloidization". Ideological domination has been replaced by the more sophisticated strategies of the market, writes Jaromir Volek. [ more ]
A Mediterranean media climate
The struggle for journalistic autonomy in Slovenia
Slovenia In the 1990s, the Slovenian press was rare in being protected from market forces by public subsidies. In the last decade, this has turned into political interventionism that stands between the Slovene media and true autonomy, writes Marjan Horvat. [ more ]
Whose rapprochement?
The Belarusian media between Lukashenka and the EU
Belarus The continuing repression of the independent media exposes the Belarusian government's concessions to "European standards" for what they are: window dressing on a regime that has no intention of releasing its stranglehold on society any time soon. [ more ]
The end of the road
Croatia The fate of the outspoken Croatian weekly "Feral Tribune" is an object lesson in what happens to a publication that refuses to toe the government line or bow to the market. Viktor Ivancic, in his editorial for the final issue, on the paper's last, futile struggle. [ more ]
We took its light for granted
In memoriam: Feral Tribune (1993-2008)
Croatia A former contributor to the Croatian weekly "Feral Tribune" writes that the paper was left to die by those who should have taken better care of it: its readers and all who cared for its lone, free, critical voice. [ more ]
Us and them?
Croatia: Mafia, media and murder
Croatia The recent murder of the editor of the Croatian daily "Nacional", Ivo Pukancic, indicated a disturbing interconnection between the criminal underworld, high-level politics and the media in the country. Drago Hedl looks behind the scenes. [ more ]
Serbia: Media manoeuvres in a wounded society
Serbia During the Milosevic era, much of the Serbian media became part of the nationalist propaganda arsenal. Along with others, broadcaster B92 survived the war into a new, more open media climate. But like society itself, the media bears the scars, writes B92 founder Veran Matic. [ more ]
Timelines: Politics, organized crime and the media in Serbia and Croatia 1989-2009. In Serbia and Croatia, political, economic and media interests are more closely entangled than in other newer democracies; the shadow of war along with the influence of organized crime inhibits journalistic autonomy still further. Timelines from '89 to the present. [ more ]
The enemy within
Roma, the media and hate speech
Roma Despite European Union legislation on the subject, Europe's Roma remain the victim of discrimination and abuse. In Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, not to mention Italy, it is the media that more often than not instigate the witch hunts. [ more ]
Romania: The quality of the press and the quality press
Romania The more that the Romanian press professionalizes, the more it is discovering the conflict between editorial content and market demands, writes "Dilema Veche" editor Mircea Vasilescu. [ more ]
Hey Jude
Media self-regulation in Romania
Romania Media self-regulation has many advantages over the more intrusive forms of state legislation, argues Ioana Avadani. Not only would it help raise professional standards in Romania, it might create greater responsibility towards the public that now trust journalists so implicitly. [ more ]
Between a rock and a very hard case
The Bulgarian media fends off a criminalized state
Bulgaria The Bulgarian media is discovering its government has less regard for journalists than for members of the criminal underworld. In response, the media has in recent years been developing an effective system of self-regulation, writes Svetoslav Terziev. [ more ]
More focal points
Changing media – Media in change
Media-technological developments are causing a fundamental re-structuring of the newspaper and book publishing sectors, with traditional media locked in fierce competition with online newcomers for market superiority. Yet media change is about more than the "newspaper crisis" and the iPad: property law, privacy, free speech and the functioning of the public sphere are all affected. [ more ]
The bonfire of the universities
The uni's burning! The slogan was everywhere in the German-speaking space last winter, as the protests at the University of Vienna set off a wave of similar strikes, first at Austrian universities, then beyond: in Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Marburg, Zürich... 2009/10 saw further protests at universities in Athens, Zagreb, Marseilles and London. The Bologna Process, one of the main points of contention, also marked its ten-year anniversary on 12 March this year by officially inaugurating the European Higher Education Area. Eurozine surveys a debate enflaming (not only) Europe. [ more ]
Climate of change?
Social agreement about the necessity of radical ecological change may be unprecedented, yet rhetoric and reality go their separate ways. As ambitions for a legally-binding agreement at the Copenhagen recede, serious doubts arise about the efficacy of multilateral climate deals and the assumptions behind cap-and-trade. [ more ]
Dilemma 89
Twenty years after 1989, most former communist states in central and eastern Europe are members of the EU. Yet the transition from closed to open societies is far from "complete". '89 not only historic moment of liberation, but also political and social dilemma for the present day. [ more ]
Olympic indifference
The Beijing Olympics 2008 are unusual insofar as not one country has boycotted them. This, despite the fact that the political dimension of the Games has seldom been more controversial. Are we seeing a new kind of "Olympic indifference"? With this in mind, Eurozine compiles articles on sport, politics, and protest. [ more ]
Shared space, divided society
Migration is part of modern society, meaning more and more people of different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds live together in Europe. The multitude of perspectives and experiences represents an enormous resource, but as cultural conflicts inherent in today's urban societies become visible, doubts are also raised about the value of diversity. [ more ]
Illiberal Europe?
Parliament or the soapbox? Populist politics are enjoying renewed success in Europe, above all in the former socialist countries. Ivan Krastev, G.M.Tamás, Ralf Dahrendorf, Jacques Rupnik and others investigate the rise of "democratic illiberalism". [ more ]
Cultural citizenship
The concept of cultural citizenship responds to the multicultural context of contemporary societies, in which the concern with equality is increasingly being complemented with a concern with difference. Contributors include Gerard Delanty, Axel Honneth, Rainer Bauböck, Ivaylo Ditchev, Charles Taylor, Rada Ivekovic, António Sousa Ribeiro. [ more ]
Decentring Europe
Any reinvention of the concept of Europe that takes into account the complexities inherent in Europe's place in a globalized world must contain a critique of Eurocentrism. Learning from the South, i.e. absorbing the full critical impact of alternative approaches may be a key element in the rethinking and unthinking of "Europe".
[ more ]
The future of war
Are wars that are fought between nations a thing of the past, and are the future challenges more a case of ethnic strife, break-up of failed states, secession and civil wars? In a special focal point, Eurozine analyzes the changing face of warfare in the twenty-first century, in which terrorism and new security threats have profoundly transformed the way wars are conducted. [ more ]
The city as stage for social upheaval
From the western European city to the Third World megacity, one is able to observe how a single principle asserts itself in the social structure of the urban space. That principle privatization is geared towards the concentration of wealth and assets on an increasingly global scale, a manoeuvre its beneficiaries seek to naturalize. [ more ]
Big brother goes global
Post 9/11, governments are increasingly tailoring "international standards" to ratify domestic policies that intrude on civil liberties. Welcome to the phenomenon of "policy laundering". [ more ]
Changing Europe
As political Europe turns 50, the questions about its future are as open as ever. A special focus featuring some of Eurozine's most outstanding contributions on the European project: From analyses of the current crisis to a hilarious parody of Brussels' literary ambitions. [ more ]
Post-secular Europe?
Is religion a public or a private matter? Can there be such a thing as a European Islam? If so, what characterizes it? What role can religion – or religions – play when it comes to the emergence of a European solidarity? [ more ]
European histories: Towards a grand narrative?
In order for there to be solidarity within the enlarged EU, it will be necessary to develop a broader historical consciousness that includes both western and eastern experiences. [ more ]
Europe talks to Europe: Towards a European public sphere?
The European integration project has made the discussion about transnational spaces for cultural and political debate acute. Can there at all be a common Europe without a pan-European public sphere? [ more ]
Politics of border making and (cross-)border identities
Have borders become irrelevant with the project of a united Europe? No, just the opposite. On the dilemmas of border building and cross-border cooperation in the EU and its neighbourhood. [ more ]
Documenta 12 magazines
Eurozine is participating in the Documenta 12 magazines project, which links over 90 print and on-line periodicals worldwide. Read Eurozine's contributions to the documenta leitmotifs "Modernity" and "Bare Life" here.[ more ]
Freedom of speech and the Danish cartoon controversy
Free speech is a fundamental human right and a central tenet of democracy. Or is it? Reactions to the Danish cartoon controversy show that liberals are re-evaluating what the right to free speech entails. [ more ]
Politics of translation
Translation today is as much about the translation of cultural, political, and historical contexts and concepts as it is about language. [ more ]
Conferences
crosswords X mots croisés
21st European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Paris, 26-29 September 2008
The 21st European Meeting of Cultural Journals 2008 in Paris explored the theme of multilingualism in Europe in terms of language policies, migration, translation and the European public sphere. Read the conference texts here. [ more ]
Changing places (What's normal anyway?)
The 20th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Sibiu, 21-24 October 2007
Under the heading "Changing places (What's normal anyway?)", the Eurozine network conference 2007 in Sibiu, Romania, addressed the challenges facing societies, literature, and the media as the need for change meets the urge for normality. Read the conference texts here. [ more ]
Friend and foe. Shared space, divided society
The 19th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
London, 27-30 October 2006
Speakers at the 19th European Meeting of Cultural Journals opened up the discussion on cultural diversity in two directions: first, as it is experienced in the physical urban space, and second, as it is reflected in the mirror of the media. [ more ]
Neighbourhoods
The 18th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Istanbul, 4-7 November 2005
Contributions on the notion of neighbourhood and the Turkey-Europe question from a range of intellectual and geographic perspectives. [ more ]
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