The Applicability of Western Media Models on the Russian Media System

Abstract

For decades the (western) media world could be divided along the simple dichotomy of western vs communist media systems. When the communist world collapsed, the corresponding media model was declared history as well. At first sight, it was fully replaced by the western model in the same way as the society was reorganized according to western principles. On a closer look, however, western influence seems to be restricted primarily to the market area. The reshaping of the media system into a pluralist and independent Fourth Estate, the transformation of the journalistic community into an autonomous professional group dedicated to a public service ideal and the redefinition of the audience into a group of citizens all failed to occur. Media systems are given shape not only by economic but also by political and cultural factors. Russia's culture can be considered a combination of western/European and eastern/Asian characteristics. For this reason it is likely that we will witness the emerging of an indigenous Russian (Eurasian?) media system instead of the simple `westification' or `Europeanization' of the Russian media system.