Media pluralism : European regulatory policies and the case of Central Europe

In recent years, media pluralism has become the key theme of media policy debates both at the EU and national levels. This article examines normative grounds of media pluralism and considers different approaches to the issue. It also maps out regulatory concepts and responses at the level of EU institutions and outlines the main difficulties of regulatory implications stemming from the lack of a coherent approach. Finally, this contribution briefly studies to what extent the main problems affecting media pluralism in three Central European Member States (Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) are addressed by national regulatory regimes and whether these provide sufficient framework, subsidiary and complementary to EU rules. It is argued, that media pluralism has to be evaluated in the light of strong requirements of pluralistic democracy, and not simply by reference to some fragmented criteria such as effective competition in media markets.