This course approaches the topic of international media systems and their transformations in the light of internet and digitization. The aim is to discuss and to explore whether digital media environments lead to convergence, reduce existing differences between national media systems, or whether media systems still vary by existing media structures and practices.Therefore, (1) we examine the structures of mass media that are relevant to public communication (such as private and public broadcasting, print media, and online mass media) in an international prospective. (2) We use the framework and the dimensions of Hallin and Mancini's 'Comparing Media Systems' (2004) as a reference point for the assumption that technological changes lead to similar occurrences regarding the degree of journalistic professionalism, political parallelism, and news media market structures. (3) Finally, we highlight the role of state intervention in the media. So far, little attention has been paid to media policy frameworks and structural conditions that have forced a transition to polarizedfragmented media systems. The course builds on rigorous readings, active reflective discussions and exercises. close

Compulsary Reading: Hallin, D. C. & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems. Three models of media and politics. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Additional Readings: Freedman, D. (2018). Populism and media policy failure. European Journal of Communication, 33(6), 604-618. Nechushtai, E. (2018). From Liberal to Polarized Liberal? Contemporary U.S. News in Hallin and Mancini’s Typology of News Systems. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23,183–201. Nielsen, R. K. (2017). Media capture in the digital age. In: A. Schiffrin (ed.), In the Service of Power: Media Capture and the Threat to Democracy (pp. 33-41). Washington, DC: Centre for International Media Assistance. https://www.cima.ned.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/08/CIMA_MediaCaptureBook_F1.pdf close