Week 1
Comparative analysis
Concept formation and clarification
Comparison makes us sensitive to variation
Against ethnocentrism => which refers only to the experience of a single country, yet
is written in general terms as though the model of that prevailed in that country were
universal.
Rendering the ‘invisible visible’ => drawing attention to aspects of any media system,
including our own, that may be taken for granted and difficult to detect when the
focus is on only one national case, it can protect us from false generalizations.
Comparison makes us sensitive to similarity
It can encourage us to move from overly particular explanations to more general
ones.
Explaining causal inference
Comparison allows us in many cases to test hypotheses about the interrelationships
among social phenomena.
Comparative analysis makes us understand variation and similarity within media systems:
We can notice things we did not notice before and therefore had not conceptualized;
It forces us to clarify the scope and applicability of the concepts we employ.
Systems
Made up of interconnecting parts (irreducibility). Is a methodological tool; it is used for
comparative research.
Stability => necessary and
dependent relationships between
the parts that make up a system.
Variety and flexibility => the parts
are in motion; if one-part changes,
so do the others.
Constraint => there are limits to
the amount of change a system
can take.
Open => systems relate to their
environment.
CM1008 Media Systems in Comparative Perspective
, Media systems
A country’s complex structure of media institutions and practices that interact with and
shape one another, and which is structurally and historically linked to the political and
economic system (Hallin & Mancini, 2004).
There are characteristic patterns of relationships between media system, political
system and economic system.
Media systems are not homogeneous, not the result of a single ideology or
philosophy.
Media systems are composed of many elements, differing in normative expectations
and regulation.
Media systems result from meaningful patterns of historical development (path
dependency).
National media systems are subject to change (globalisation).
Path dependence (North, 1990)
The past has a powerful influence (does not mean that present or future institutions have to
resemble those of the past, or that change is absent) → there are clear relationships
between patterns of historical evolution at the beginning of modernity and the media
system patterns that prevail today.
Four dimensions of a media system
1. Media markets
2. Political parallelism
3. Media professionalization
4. Role of the state
1st dimension of a media system: media markets
How media is produced, financed, consumed? Includes ownership, concentration, market
shares, audience behaviour and media access, use, etc.
Low circulation => horizontal process: interrelate (between themselves) communication
(Southern Europe)
High circulation => vertical process: mediation between political elites and ordinary citizens
(Northern Europe and North America).
2nd dimension of a media system: political parallelism
The extent to which the media system reflects the major political divisions in society / the
degree to which the structure of the media system paralleled that of a political party system.
High political parallelism => external pluralism: pluralism achieved at the level of the media
system as a whole, through the existence of a range of media outlets or organizations
reflecting the points of view of different groups or tendencies in society.
each media outlet is linked to different groups or tendencies in society
CM1008 Media Systems in Comparative Perspective
Comparative analysis
Concept formation and clarification
Comparison makes us sensitive to variation
Against ethnocentrism => which refers only to the experience of a single country, yet
is written in general terms as though the model of that prevailed in that country were
universal.
Rendering the ‘invisible visible’ => drawing attention to aspects of any media system,
including our own, that may be taken for granted and difficult to detect when the
focus is on only one national case, it can protect us from false generalizations.
Comparison makes us sensitive to similarity
It can encourage us to move from overly particular explanations to more general
ones.
Explaining causal inference
Comparison allows us in many cases to test hypotheses about the interrelationships
among social phenomena.
Comparative analysis makes us understand variation and similarity within media systems:
We can notice things we did not notice before and therefore had not conceptualized;
It forces us to clarify the scope and applicability of the concepts we employ.
Systems
Made up of interconnecting parts (irreducibility). Is a methodological tool; it is used for
comparative research.
Stability => necessary and
dependent relationships between
the parts that make up a system.
Variety and flexibility => the parts
are in motion; if one-part changes,
so do the others.
Constraint => there are limits to
the amount of change a system
can take.
Open => systems relate to their
environment.
CM1008 Media Systems in Comparative Perspective
, Media systems
A country’s complex structure of media institutions and practices that interact with and
shape one another, and which is structurally and historically linked to the political and
economic system (Hallin & Mancini, 2004).
There are characteristic patterns of relationships between media system, political
system and economic system.
Media systems are not homogeneous, not the result of a single ideology or
philosophy.
Media systems are composed of many elements, differing in normative expectations
and regulation.
Media systems result from meaningful patterns of historical development (path
dependency).
National media systems are subject to change (globalisation).
Path dependence (North, 1990)
The past has a powerful influence (does not mean that present or future institutions have to
resemble those of the past, or that change is absent) → there are clear relationships
between patterns of historical evolution at the beginning of modernity and the media
system patterns that prevail today.
Four dimensions of a media system
1. Media markets
2. Political parallelism
3. Media professionalization
4. Role of the state
1st dimension of a media system: media markets
How media is produced, financed, consumed? Includes ownership, concentration, market
shares, audience behaviour and media access, use, etc.
Low circulation => horizontal process: interrelate (between themselves) communication
(Southern Europe)
High circulation => vertical process: mediation between political elites and ordinary citizens
(Northern Europe and North America).
2nd dimension of a media system: political parallelism
The extent to which the media system reflects the major political divisions in society / the
degree to which the structure of the media system paralleled that of a political party system.
High political parallelism => external pluralism: pluralism achieved at the level of the media
system as a whole, through the existence of a range of media outlets or organizations
reflecting the points of view of different groups or tendencies in society.
each media outlet is linked to different groups or tendencies in society
CM1008 Media Systems in Comparative Perspective
