ABSTRACTThis publication places a comprehensive, comparative and critical focus on the many aspects of the media world in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and compares them to the situation in one of the neighbouring Scandinavian countries – Norway. This focus on the Baltic countries and Norway will reveal problems,traditions and characteristics linked to global media development, as well as to local reactions to the recent historical past.

The aim of the publication is to reveal problematic topics and show in a very open and honest way how these topics are being handled in the Baltic countries and Norway. Little in the way of comparative literature has been published on these topics before. The publication should be of great help to all those who are interested in media developments in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries in particular, and in Europe in general.

The publication is a collection of articles on recent media development in the Baltic countries and Norway. Special attention is devoted to accountability systems and media ethics, hidden advertising, systems of media control and state intervention, media ownership, editorial censorship and the professionalisation of journalism, cultural stereotypes, internet debates as well as media modernisation and journalism cultures.

This book has certain limits. Indeed, as very little comparative research has been done concerning the media in Northern Europe, much of the available space in this publication has been used for description. The book is directed towards an international audience, and therefore the media experts have sought to describe facts and to provide information which otherwise would be of limited availability to a foreign reader. Moreover, it should be noted that some articles are not equally focused on all the four countries.

The principal goal of the publication is not to judge, but to understand which factors shape the development of the media in the four selected countries. It is the hope of the authors that “The Baltic Media World” will become a useful resource to media scholars, journalism and communications students, policy makers and the media industry.

(pdf The Baltic Media Worldpdf)

(English, PDF, 1,15 Mb)