Mediatization at the Macro Level: The Contribution of Media Systems Theory

• In Event: Mediatization and Theoretical Convergence

Abstract

What is the relationship between mediatization and media system? Mediatization research is seldom focused on the macro institutional level of media systems, even while some authors recognize the importance of starting the analysis of mediatization with the analysis of media system (Krotz 2014). In exploring the contribution of media systems theory (Blumler & Gurevitch 1995, Hallin & Mancini 2004, Chadwick 2014) to the understanding of the changes we label mediatization, I argue that the current stage of mediatization can be usefully explained via a new institutional model of digital mediascape (Peruško et al. 2015, 2016) as its macro-contextual institutional condition. The question is, what macro institutional constrains/conditions of media systems are related to what level/degree of mediatization? What are the benchmarks for mediatization at the level of media system? How are institutional conditions changing with the change of (historical) time and (geopolitical) space? I explore comparative findings (based on Peruško et al. 2015, 2016) in relation to empirical clusters of European digital mediascapes.

Author

• Zrinjka Perusko, University of Zagreb