The role of broadcasting regulation in shaping the recent history of Serbian culture (1944-1990)

Abstract

Determining the traditional electronic media - radio and television as cultural artifacts, the paper gives their genesis, beginning with the period immediately after the liberation of Belgrade (the end of the Second World War), through the period of self-management socialism, to the beginning of the nineties of the previous century. The subject of this paper is related to the specifics of the development of broadcasting in the historical and political epoch, seen in the broader social context outlined by mutually intertwined political, legal, economic and other characteristics of the epoch. The historical, descriptive, analytical and comparative methods have been applied, in order to test the working hypothesis about the effective impact of broadcasting regulation in the shaping and creation of distinct factors of a national culture in the observed social and historical period. The primary objective of the research was to show the characteristics of the regulation model of broadcasting in the period of self-management socialism, the quality of regulatory measures, and the cultural effects achieved in the observed social and historical circumstances. It was found that the observed period was characterized by rigid state intervention in the development of radio and television, determined and formulated from the perspective of the dominant ideological paradigm, and anachronistic in relation to contemporary broadcasting standards that are established in the regulations of the countries with the developed democracies. In addition, the results of the research show that in the observed period, radio and television did not only establish the basis for the development of modern broadcasting and the creation of a distinctive national cultural identity, but also, through a variety of program formats, enriched and gave a profile to the historical development of Serbian culture as its significant factor.