Media and Politics in Slovakia

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson

Learned

Andrej Školkay

School of Communication and Media

Slovakia

The Conference MEDIA: 20 YEARS AFTER

organized by:

    Department of Media Studies and Centre for Media Studies, Faculty of Social Science, Charles University in

Prague, Czech Republic

May 2009

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

„Electoral power per se is the mechanical guarantee of democracy; but the substantive guarantee is given by the conditions under which the citizen gets the information and is exposed to the pressure of opinion makers.“

Giovanni Sartori 1987, 86-87

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

„It is surprising, to us, to find that the parties which replaced the

communists and socialists often seem almost as ardent in using non-

democratic means to run the media.“

Al Hester, Director of Cox International Center, 1993

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

Why the majority of post-communist Slovak top politicians sooner or later gained ambivalent, often openly negative, sometimes even extremely negative attitudes towards the mass media?

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

Why there were various functions of the media in post communist transformation, sometimes opposite to what liberal democratic theory would expect on the part of the media?

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

Top-ten enemy of the press in the world 1995

Committee to Protect Journalists

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

missunderstanding of the functions of the media in liberal democracy

AND principles of their work (e.g. news

criteria)

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

Why there were various functions of the media in post communist transformation, sometimes contradictory to what liberal democratic theory would expect?

The functions of the media: Information Criticism (watchdog) Analysis Mediating („mirror“) ..entertainment, economy

function,...

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

INFORMATION:

A) misinformation B) propaganda C) truth

initially strong influence, later less so important (experience, additional sources of information)

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

CRITICISM:

A) wrong subjects B) too often unfair C) too late D) but progress in time

minimum impact

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

ANALYSIS:

A) missing in the most important media (radio, television)

B) good in quality daily and weekly press and foreign radio broadcast

Minimum impact

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

MEDIATING:

A) more often follower than leader

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS:

political intensification

manipulatory (deliberate, unintentional)

integrative / disintegrative cultivation

Two Decades of Media and Politics Relations in Slovakia: Lesson Learned

Which media scenario/development trajectory could be applied to the

Slovak case?

And WHY?