engleski

Bridging the rift in the Croatian normative media theory

The philosophy of the communication complex, including the (mass)media, is related to the model of society in construction. A society may be seen to be constructed in discourse, where the different definitions about society are debated and confronted, and a necessary degree of consensus about the character of society and its component parts is arrived at. This view of the social construction of reality is perhaps especially relevant to Croatia as a post-communist "new democracy". In this process of construction, a legitimizing "theory" about the media system is arrived at, as a common sense normative theory which includes the expectations, fears, and beliefs the society holds about its media. This common sense normative theory is seen as the implicit basis for a media policy, as a group of aims, measures and activities that the state undertakes in order to organize the media sector. The paper will show the present state of division in the Croatian normative media theory. The analysis of political-parliamentary and public-professional discourse in Croatia in the 1990-1997 period will show a distinct conflict between two main philosophies of the media system: one based on the concepts of free flow, openness and pluralism ; and the other highlighting responsibility, order and protection of privacy. The two media philosophies have explicit links to the political philosophies of its proponents. Possible directions of the future developments of the normative media theory will be examined with special attention to the type of political system under development. Notwithstanding the recent developments in normative media theory which allow for parallel existence of different models in one society, the paper will posit that without a consensus about the basic characteristic of openness and freedom in the communication and media system a democratic construction and consolidation of society will not be possible.

media theory; media policy; media system; Croatia

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