Description

---

Given the digital transition, media policy actors have to adapt established regulatory models to the changing conditions. Besides changing regulatory objects, EU Member States have to implement directives and rules of the EU. That leads to the general assumption that transnational processes such as digitization and technical convergence and Europeanization lead to changes in national media regulatory regimes. Against this backdrop, the comparative study investigates the media regulatory instruments (generally binding rules and decisions) and measures of implementation (by governmental or private and civil society actors) of all EU member states. Methodologically, the evaluation is based on a qualitative document analysis. The descriptive analysis leads to a typology of four distinct regulatory styles within Europe: 1) minimalist-liberal, 2) interventionist, 3) light touch and 4) clientelistic media regulation model. Among other things, the results show that EU Member States differ in their view about how extensive government influence may be so that the independence of the media is still guaranteed, and what role they attribute to civil society and economic actors in the implementation of regulatory objectives.