Delayed Reflections: Media and Journalism Data Deserts in the Post-Socialist Czech Republic

Lenka Waschková Císařová, Iveta Jansová and Jan Motal
Additional contact information
Lenka Waschková Císařová: Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Iveta Jansová: Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Jan Motal: Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Media and Communication, 2024, vol. 12

Abstract: One of the key obstacles to the normative development of post-socialist media systems, in general, and the Czech Republic in particular, is the deferral of the thoughtful reflection and critical examination of the evolution of the media industry by academics and professionals. In the early years of post-socialist development, there was a lack of collected data and relevant analysis of the state of the media and journalism. It was foreign researchers who provided the first studies of the post-socialist media systems. Plus, the commercial industry, which systematically collected data, but made it inaccessible and/or expensive. This lack of domestic contemplation and transparency led to the existence of data deserts, which made it difficult to effectively reflect upon the development of the media and its role in the transition society. This article is based on a comprehensive literature review and expert interviews with witnesses of the media industry development. These sources—academia, industry, and NGOs—make it possible to highlight specific areas that were overlooked and to propose reasons that data deserts are created in post-socialist media systems. Analysing the data through the lenses of availability, continuity, accessibility, and topicality, we delimit three eras for the general reflection of the development of the media environment, setting a distinguishable timeframe for the post-socialist media data reflection’s evolution.

Keywords: Central European media; Eastern European media; data desert; media research; post-socialist media system; post-socialist transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/7198 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v12:y:2024:a:7198

DOI: 10.17645/mac.7198

Access Statistics for this article

Media and Communication is currently edited by Raquel Silva

More articles in Media and Communication from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().