Comparing Socialist and Post-Socialist Television Culture. Fifty Years of Television in Croatia
Comparing Socialist and Post-Socialist Television Culture. Fifty Years of Television in Croatia
Abstract
This article builds a theoretical model for comparative analysis of media culture based on the notion of genre, and applies it to a comparative analysis of television as a cultural form in socialist and post-socialist Croatia. The paper explores how the shares and generic composition of programme modes of information, entertainment and fiction change in time, and how the contribution of different genres to programme flow and modes varies with the changes of political, economic and technological context. Longitudinal trends in television flows are comparatively evaluated in relation to trends in genre developments in Europe and their relationship to the changes in the cultural role of television. The results show a decrease in the information and an increase in the fiction mode between socialism and democracy, with some similarities of the Croatian and western television culture in relation to genre and mode composition and flow, albeit with a belated introduction of neo television genres. Notwithstanding the limited freedom of expression and ideological content, which necessarily influenced socialist media culture, television as a cultural form in Croatia developed in concert with the global programme flows. The article is based on original content analysis of television schedules where the unit of analysis is a television programme listing. The analogue television universe is represented by longitudinal data for 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, and 2009. The stratified systematic sample (N=3934) for each chosen year consists of two constructed weeks from a universe of all listed programmes broadcast on all free to air television channels with a national reach license.
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Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 Generic
Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 Generic
Keywords:
Television genreMedia cultureCentral & Eastern EuropeComparative television culturePost-socialismLongitudinal content analysisCroatia