Decentralization in the Global Era

As we approach the end of the millenia, most mass media debates focus on issues about the internationalization and globalization of media ownership and media flow. What is rarely commented upon is the parallel, and seemingly contradictory, phenomenon of media decentralization and the proliferation of new communicative spaces in the small regions and the local areas of Europe. This volume presents studies of the 12 member states of the European Union, each written by a national contributor, which chart the evolution, current situation and possible future developments of television in the regions of each country. The book also includes chapters which analyze audiovisual policy from a regional perspective, and which evaluate the importance of regional television in supporting the separate languages, cultures and presentation of information in the overall development of the regions. It also calls for the European Union and each member state to generate communication policies for the small regions of Europe.