Media and Open Societies: Cultural, Economic and Policy Foundations for Media Openness in East and West

Traditional, national and medium-specific regulatory models in communications policy in the East and West have become outdated. New, medium-neutral and internationally oriented regulatory models are replacing them. This book discusses how these new regulatory models can contribute to the emergence of an open society - that is, a society in which all have access to society’s information and communication resources in a non-discriminatory and affordable way. Experts from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, The Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR) of the University of Amsterdam, and other experts from Finland, the United Kingdom and Belgium address this question. The papers in this volume discuss key issues in the development of communications policies for open societies. These issues focus on the social responsibilities of media in a changing society; the role of competition in stimulating media innovation and diversity; and the potential of new media in strengthening user’s autonomy and empowerment. Expressing different historical contexts, the editors approach the issues from very different perspectives, but with the common objective of understanding the converging media dynamics in East and West. The resulting mix contributes to the debate surrounding the communications policies that will stimulate the development of global openness in the 21st century.