This collection covers the major trends of the media environment of the post-Communist world
and their recent development with special focus on Russia and the post-Soviet space. The term
'media environment' covers not just traditional print and electronic media but new media as
well and ranges from the political to entertainment and various artistic spheres.What role do
market forces play in the process of media democratization and how do state structures
regulate suppress or use capitalism toward their own gain? What degree of informational
pluralism has been achieved in the newly independent republics? What are the prospects for
transparency and the participation of civil society in Russian and Eurasian media? To what
degree do trends in post-Communist media reflect global trends? Is there a worldwide
convergence with regard to both media formats and political messaging?Western observers usually
pay their keenest attention to the role of media in Russia and Eurasia during national
elections. While this is a valid focus the present volume with contributions by Luca Anceschi
Jonathan Becker Lee B. Becker Michael Cecire Marta Dyczok Nicola Ying Fry Navbahor Imamova
Azamat Junisbai Barbara Junisbai Kornely Kakachia Maria Lipman Oleg Manaev Marintha Miles
Olena Nikolayenko Sarah Oates Tamara Pataraia Elisabeth Schimpfossl Abdulfattoh Shafiev
Jack Snyder Tudor Vlad and Ilya Yablokov aims at understanding the deeper overall 'media
philosophies' that characterize post-Soviet media systems and environments and the type of
identity formation that they are promoting.
