European Media in Crisis: Values, Risks and Policies

When the financial markets collapsed in 2008, the media industry was affected by a major slump in advertising revenues, and a formerly highly successful business model fell into a state of decay. This economic crisis has threatened core social values of contemporary democracies, such as freedom, diversity and equality. Taking a normative and policy perspective, this book discusses threats and opportunities for the media industry in Europe: What are the implications of the crisis for professional journalism, the media industry, and the process of political communication? Can non- state and non-market actors profit from the crisis? And what are media policy answers at the national and European level?

Josef Trappel is Professor of Media Policy and Media Economics in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Jeanette Steemers is Professor of Media and Communications in the Faculty of Media Arts and Design at the University of Westminster, UK.

Barbara Thomass is Professor of International Comparison of Media Systems at the Institute for Media Studies at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.