The authors want to show that the issue of ownership in the media is more than a lofty academic topic which has nothing to do with the media practice. The authors discuss several more or less successful models, which of course are not perfect, yet, they can thwart many a contentious endeavour, for a political will and a belief that neither “the state” nor “the market” are the best regulator of the media subtend the passed legislation. These models also show that it is possible to detect even such elusive phenomena as “media pluralism”.

Since the consequences of concentration are difficult to predict even in the economic sphere, the issue of ownership in the media has been predominantly a topic for debate among media theorists. The warnings about the dangers of covert ownership as well as about the pitfalls of obvious, often perfectly legal concentration of ownership in the media are soon displaced by the demands for a clear and irrefutable proof of the abuse of ownership, especially if it involves tangible meddling with journalistic work, for instance in the form of censorship.

Although difficult to contest, this is a moot point, for it does not take into account the difference between power as a functional potential and power in its actual implementation. The need for “proof” of the abuse of the proprietary power can easily lead to over-simplified approaches, which is why the subjects of media power, often under the guise of a liberal approach to the market, diminish the significance of ownership and displace the responsibility onto the content (the journalists) and the market (the advertisers).

This book presents the studies that were conducted as part of the project entitled Media for Citizens, which is concerned with media pluralism and citizens’ communication rights. The project is an effort to enhance the ability of citizens, and minority groups in particular, to actively participate in media society.

The project is run by the Peace Institute with the support of the European Commission. The studies published in the book are based on the monitoring of media ownership and its impacts on media autonomy in Slovenia; monitoring and comparison of topics and speakers featured by two prime time television news programs, one broadcast by public television and the other by the major commercial television station in Slovenia; and monitoring of presentation of minorities, particularly the Roma, Muslims and gays and lesbians, in selected local and national media in Slovenia.

The book (pdf in English) also presents recommendations for changes of media policy and media practices. The studies included in the book and other activities within the project Media for Citizens are available also at the web page Media For Citizens.

The issues of media ownership concentration and the formulation and implementation of an effective media legislation received considerable attention in recent years. Within the Media Watch program, we drew attention to the threat these issues pose to media pluralism in 2002 based on the analysis made by Sandra B. Hrvatin and Lenart J. Kučić.

One year later, in 2003, a regional research and advocacy project was proposed and approved. It was carried out from July 2003 to June 2004 by the Peace Institute within the South East European Network for the Professionalisation of the Media (SEENPM). Its goal was to bring together the post-socialist European countries and initiate a debate about media concentration and potential changes in public policies in this Weld.

This book (pdf in English) contains the regional overview compiled on the basis of the 18 country reports written for this project, the full text of the Slovenian report and the conclusions and recommendations of the international conference organized upon the conclusion of the project.

In the essay The Election Campaign on the Internet, Sandra B. Hrvatin and Lenart J. Kučić attempt to answer the question whether the web campaign formed an important part of the election campaign (pdf in English). They conclude that most parties simply posted propaganda materials on their web pages and somewhat adapted them to suit the requirements of the medium. Web sites were thus prevailingly used for selfpresentation and as an electronic extension of the party’s profile.

The obvious lack of a web strategy reveals that the campaign on the Internet was just a formal necessity. The analysis of the pre-election web polls featured on the SLS+SKD and SDS web pages showed that those who voted in these polls were mostly the supporters of these parties.

This shows that Slovenians are not yet active web voters and that the significance of the Internet in this election campaign was negligible even with respect to negative propaganda. The authors further analyzed the participation of Janez Drnovšek, the leader of the LDS, in on-line chats during the election campaign.

The analysis showed that even though the public had direct access to the leader of the party, the larger part of the debate did not touch on politics, or the voters did not have relevant questions for the leader. The authors thus conclude that the web portion of the election campaign was probably just one evolutionary step towards the stage at which the Internet will become the main channel for the exchange of data when the content of the messages will finally become adapted to the medium.