"Trust in the media varies across the region, with citizens in BiH, Serbia and North Macedonia divided in around half of those that trust and half of those that distrust the media, and a higher number of citizens in Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania having trust in the media. The highest trust is expre
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ssed by citizens in Kosovo (64% of citizens trust and 35% distrust the media) and the lowest in BiH (48% of citizens that trust, compared to 49% that distrust the media). Similarly, trust in the public service broadcaster varies across the region, being the highest in Kosovo (76%) and the lowest in BiH and Montenegro (in BiH between 32% for RTRS and 43% for RTVFBiH, and 48% in Montenegro). In some countries of the region, there is a clear division of trust-distrust in the public service broadcaster indicative of an ethnic and/or political divide." (Page 19)
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"Independent media outlets in the Western Balkans are facing major challenges to their financial sustainability. With the exception of some of the largest broadcasters with national coverage and the most visited online media, the majority of media outlets across the region are not sustainable busine
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sses. In particular, local media outlets, media engaged in niche reporting and/or those critical of the government are unable to generate sufficient advertising revenues. Media outlets in the region operate within a dysfunctional media system. Their revenues are shrinking, and a larger number of media outlets compete for increasingly thin pickings. Meanwhile, political interference and corrupt advertising practices deepen their woes. Media outlets are further disadvantaged by the radical changes in media consumption habits and advertising flows. As a result, independent journalism is sustained on only a small number of platforms that are committed to pluralism, democratic debate and democratic processes. Media ownership in the Western Balkans lacks transparency, and ownership of media outlets is often used as a way of influencing the public and/or the government, in line with the particular political and business interests of their owners. In addition, there is a strong tendency towards the concentration of power in the hands of few dominant players in areas such as media production, distribution, advertising and related businesses (in BiH, Serbia, and Montenegro, mainly the United Group and Telekom Srbija). By acquiring the rights to virtually all premium content, these dominant groups are making it highly challenging for other media outlets to secure a reasonable share of advertising income. The advertising market is affected by three dominant issues: the continuing economic crisis and the shift of advertising budgets to regional and global media and to online communication platforms; corrupt advertising, instrumentalised for the promotion of particular political and other interests; a lack of credible audience data." (Conclusions, page 40)
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"Global Media Giants takes an in-depth look at how media corporate power works globally, regionally, and nationally, investigating the ways in which the largest and most powerful media corporations in the world wield power. Case studies examine not only some of the largest media corporations (News C
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orp, Microsoft) in terms of revenues, but also media corporations that hold considerable power within national, regional, or geolinguistic contexts (Televisa, Bertelsmann, Sony). Each chapter approaches a different corporation through the lens of economy, politics, and culture, giving students and scholars a thoughtful and data-driven guide with which to interrogate contemporary media industry power." (Publisher description)
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"In this comparative regional overview of the governing and funding models of public service media in the countries of South East Europe, we see a variety of solutions. The information we have gathered and presented here demonstrates once again that these media organisations use large amounts of pub
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lic money – either through the licence fee collected from households, or through state budgets, but the supervision mechanisms for their programming and finances are predominantly politically driven. Almost all governing bodies are entirely or partly appointed by parliament, and despite formal requirements for qualifications, their members are commonly appointed on the basis of political affiliation and compatibility with the political parties in power. It is not only the apparent political interests that make public service media in the region into their playground that have made these media rather devastated giants, but also the particular, private interests of the representatives of civil society, their organisations or the fields they represent. Their representation in the governing structures of the public service media in the region has often been misused and trust in the genuine representation of the public in the governing structure of public service media has been compromised. There are deep differences in the funding and governing models among the countries in the region. Particularly Hungary, with its giant PSM governing structure and solutions such as nomination of members of the Board of Governors by the political majority and opposition, or the indefinite term of office for a Director General appointed by that Board of Governors, seem to constitute an environment far from supportive of independent, open and inclusive public service media operations. The size of the governing bodies also differs significantly, but that provides no particular guarantee of quality and efficiency in their work." (Conclusions)
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"Adopting a truly global, theoretical and multidisciplinary perspective, Media Pluralism and Diversity intends to advance our understanding of media pluralism across the globe. It compares metrics that have been developed in different parts of the world to assess levels of, or threats to, media plur
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alism." (Publisher description)
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"This book is an attempt to address obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe by mapping patterns of corrupt relations and practices in media policy development, media ownership and financing, public service broadcasting, and journalism as a profess
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ion. It introduces the concept of media integrity to denote the public-service values of media and journalism. In analyzing the current situation of the media, the focus was on the assessment of factors that have been identified as posing a risk to media integrity, with an overview of past developments if relevant for understanding the current situation. Five countries were covered by the research presented in this book: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia." (Introduction)
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"This book presents the studies that were conducted as part of the project entitled Media For Citizens, which is concerned with media pluralism and citizens' communication rights. The project is an effort to enhance the ability of citizens, and minority groups in particular, to actively [...] partic
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ipate in media society." (Page 8)
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