Monika Metykova

‘I didn’t realize how attached I am’: On the environmental experiences of trans-European migrants

This article presents findings from a qualitative research project on the environmental experiences of trans-European migrants, drawing on conversational interviews with young people who have moved to Britain over recent years from the new European Union Member States in Eastern Europe. It explores these migrants’ practical and emotional relationships with physical (and media) environments, also drawing on the literature of phenomenological geography, in which there is a helpful concern with environmental experiences and associated senses of place. Such experiences and perceptions are not usually objects of reflection in day-to-day social circumstances, precisely because of their routine, familiar and taken-for-granted character. However, transnational migration can bring a profound disturbance of lifeworlds, throwing senses of place into sharp relief. Therefore, a major theme of this article is the close connection between matters of migration and those of place-making in daily living.

Changing journalistic practices in Eastern Europe The cases of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia

The article deals with changes in the journalistic profession and journalistic practices in the early 2000s in three new European Union member states: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. It can be argued that Eastern European journalists face changes and challenges related to the ‘proletarization’ of journalistic work, commercial pressures, and ‘dumbing down’ as well as changing work practices related to new technologies. Yet they face these changes in the specific context of post-communist societies where the links between media and politicians often directly influence the professional practices and standards of journalists. We concentrate on developments in these three countries in relation to three areas: 1) dominant values in the journalistic profession and their change in the past 10 years; 2) influence of structures of ownership and market forces on practices and processes of journalism, and 3) influence of technological changes on journalistic practices and processes.

Code unknown: Roma/Gypsy montage

Roma/Gypsies have rarely figured in mainstream social theory; they have, rather, been a topic of ‘specialist’ interest. The aim of this feature is, in some small way, to address the issue of Roma culture and society in a mainstream context. More than considering a neglected group, it suggests that there is something positive and constructive to be learned from the Roma and their experiences—something to be learned from a people who have invariably been considered as problematical. Roma have a distinctive significance in the context of a changing Europe, and they also merit serious consideration in urban theory. Yet they have never figured in mainstream spatial politics. They have never received spatial justice. Through the assembling of a broad range of contributions, mostly concerning the eastern side of Europe, I have sought to bring out something of the broad range of perspectives and discourses concerning Roma culture. The aim has been to make an argument by way of a montage, and, moreover, to make the argument through ways of telling that expand the definition of ‘academic’.

Media, political communication and the European public sphere

This chapter draws on the communication studies literature to consider key aspects of the role of the media in the construction and negotiation of the public sphere and related concepts that impinge on the concerns of this book. We discuss conceptualizations of the public sphere that relate, in particular, to media and political communication. We also pay particular attention to the spatial aspects linked to concerns over national vs. transnational dimensions of the political and cultural public spheres.

Diversity and the media

Diversity and the Media opens with an exploration of diversity in relation to the normative frameworks of media and democracy and multiculturalism. It then moves on to offer more tangible conceptualizations of diversity at the level of audiences, media workforce and outlets and media contents. Throughout, the book focuses on media regulation in democratic societies, it discusses how different understandings of diversity are reflected in rationales and approaches that inform media regulation. The book draws on a range of current and historical examples mainly from the US and the UK although other European countries – including new European Union member states – are also discussed. Diversity and the Media is characterized by an interdisciplinary outlook, however, it draws mainly on approaches and research associated with political economy of media, political communication, media economics and critical media industry studies.

European Media Policy: Why Margins Actually Matter

This chapter argues that media policy-making in European countries tends to be restricted to nation-centric frameworks, and it shows that pan-European agents are not empowered to work with transnational approaches to cultural diversity when it comes to media regulation. The nation-centric approach is particularly striking when we take into account the ‘new’ complexity of contemporary Europe, which is linked particularly to migration that has been a major factor in the social (as well as the cultural and demographic) transformation of contemporary societies. The underlying principles and approaches that characterise European media policy are largely ignorant of these developments on the ground in Europe and remain caught up in the ‘national container’ approach.