This book offers an alternative perspective to the reigning socio-political and economic approaches to evaluating media systems and why and how they function. Peter Gross outlines a cultural model, a "kaleidoscopic cultural prism," for assessing the nature and functioning of these systems. By testing this model in one Eastern European country, Romania, Gross contributes to existing scholarship on media theory, media and transformation, East and Central European media, Romanian media, and East and Central European transformations in general. Awareness of the inherent negatives in the cultural bricolage accumulated over the centuries while Romanians lived under physical, administrative, and ideological dominance of various empires is increasingly sown among the new generations. This reality makes a culture-driven understanding of Romania's media system even more urgent and meaningful for comprehending the evolving transformation. Scholars of communication, media studies, and Romanian studies will find this book of particular interest.
Peter Gross is professor emeritus in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee.
Preface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Culture and its Guideposts Chapter 3: Culture, Political Culture, Corruption, and Trust Chapter 4: Culture, Media, and Political Markets Chapter 5: Values (whose?), Attitudes and Media Professionalization Chapter 6: Conclusion - The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? Bibliography About the Author
"I wish I had written this book. It describes a thesis that can be unanimously shared: 'Media do not grow up in a vacuum.' In large part the nature of media systems is shaped by the past and present culture. Peter Gross very convincingly demonstrates this thesis in relationship to the Romanian case." -- Paulo Mancini, University of Perugia, Italy, Co-author of Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World "Peter Gross' book creates a change of Copernican perspective to the set of studies related to the transition from communism...An engaging, instructive, and thoroughly revelatory read." -- Mihai Coman, University of Bucharest, Co-Author of Media and Journalism in Romania "Thanks to its cultural approach, Peter Gross' book fills a major research and knowledge gap in the scholarship about Romania media...this study will become a go-to resource." -- Marius Dragomir, Central European University "One of the most authoritative voices in media studies, Peter Gross offers numerous examples in support of this viewpoint in a book written with poise and attention to detail. By doing so he demonstrates that culture matters not only in Romania but more broadly in Central and Eastern Europe in ways that media students have generally neglected to date." -- Lavinia Stan, St. Francis Xavier University "It is a truly groundbreaking book for media studies..." -- Aukse Balcytiene, Vitautas Magnus University, UNESCO Chair in MIL for Inclusive Knowledge Society "A highly insightful and thought-provoking work." -- Peter Bajomi-Lazar, Budapest Business School
