GLOBAL MEDIA AND POLITICS: Transnational Communication Regimes and Civic Cultures

There is much debate about the effects of media market deregulation and the resulting growth of vast global media corporations. Some observers argue that deregulatory pressures have undermined public service broadcasting and media social-responsibility norms, resulting in deterioration of information quality and political disengagement of citizens in many nations. Others herald deregulatory trends as expanding information choices and enabling citizens to find their preferred levels of political engagement. This analysis proposes that we understand global trends in media deregulation as part of a transnational political regime in which many players and institutional arenas shape norms for media ownership, social responsibility, and citizen information. The players include multinational corporations, parties and public officials, interest associations, and citizen advocacy organizations. The institutional settings include national legislatures and regulatory commissions as well as international trade organizations, European Union commissions, and United Nations agencies. The outcomes of contests among these players at different institutional levels influence the degrees of normative consensus on ownership and content policies in the regime and explain how different nations engage with media deregulation and the market forces that increasingly shape the content of democratic public life.