Media in the Western Balkan : who controls the past controls the future

STOJAROVÁ, Věra. Media in the Western Balkan : who controls the past controls the future. Online. In KAPIDŽIĆ, Damir a Věra STOJAROVÁ. Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe : How Ruling Elites Undermine Democracy. London: Routledge, 2022, p. 156-176. The Southeast Europe and Black Sea Series. ISBN 978-1-032-07689-8.

Basic information

• Original name: Media in the Western Balkan : who controls the past controls the future
• Authors: STOJAROVÁ, Věra.
• Edition: London, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe : How Ruling Elites Undermine Democracy, p. 156-176, 21 pp. The Southeast Europe and Black Sea Series. 2022.
• Publisher: Routledge

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Chapter(s) of a specialized book
• Field of Study: 50601 Political science
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Publication form: electronic version available online
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• ISBN: 978-1-032-07689-8
• Keywords in English: Media freedom; Western Balkans; media financing; captured state; illiberal politics
• Tags: topvydavatel
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

The contribution assesses the role of the media in respect to democratization and EU accession in the countries of the Western Balkans (WB) and the development of press freedom over the long run. The author closely analyses the legislative framework and its implementation in practice and focuses in particular on the economic and political pressure on the media in the region. The article offers three arguments to explain the bad shape of media freedom in the Balkans: structural factors (state advertisements as the main source of income, economic tycoons close to incumbents as media owners), proximate or external factors (the deteriorating level of media freedom in some EU countries and the whole WB region, with an accent on stability rather than democracy) and political-societal dynamics (defamation and libel as means to punish journalists, verbal and physical assaults on journalists). The media in the WB region do not serve as the watchdog of democracy but are instead used as a means to reinforce illiberal regimes.
The chapter was originally published in a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.