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Media and Transition in Latin America

Colin Sparks

Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, volume 8, issue 2 (2011), pp. 3-34

"This article reviews the authoritarian regimes, and the subsequent transitions to democracy, that existed in Latin America in the last third of the 20th Century. It is argued that, unlike in other cases, the political science account of such changes, usually self-described as “transitology”, do ... more

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Globalization, Development and the Mass Media

Colin Sparks

London et al.: Sage (2007), 258 pp.

"This book gives a comprehensive and critical account of the theoretical changes in communication studies from the early theories of development communication through to the contemporary critiques of globalization. It looks at the ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development, ... more

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Communism, Capitalism and the Mass Media

Colin Sparks, Anna Reading

London: Sage (1998), xix, 214 pp.

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The Media After Communism

Colin Sparks (ed.)

Media, Culture & Society, volume 16, issue 2 (1994), pp. 179-312

"[...] We consider here a wide range of post-communisms. At one extremestands the former German Democratic Republic: There, the politicalcollapse of communism immediately preceded the economic and socialdestruction of the old way of life. As Maryellen Boyle shows, theaspirations of the people who ov ... erthrew communism were swept aside bythe juggernaut of reunification. This anschluss - to borrow Habermas’shistorically loaded term -was immediately followed by the imposition ofWest German ideas and structures. Within broadcasting, this foundexpression in the setting up of a new system integrated into the existing West German framework. These structural changes were accompanied bythe appointment of Western managers, often from the ruling ChristianDemocratic Party, and an extensive purge of the existing staff. EasternGermany has been rather brutally and very finally integrated into the worldmarket at the expense of the people who ran the Stalinist state.A t the other extreme stands the Chinese experience. There the processof integration, and the destruction of central planning, are proceeding asrapidly in television as in any other part of society. The political system,however, remains controlled by the very same people who have been inpower for years. As Yu Huang shows, the massive development oftelevision in China has been largely the result of the introduction of localautonomy and a shift towards commercial financing. This has led to strainsand tensions between the central party apparatus and the broadcasters.The aftermath of Tiananmen Square was to increase political control butnot to interrupt the growth of the market. One might say that, so far atleast, the process of integration into the world market has been to thebenefit of the people who ran the old system.Between these two extremes lie the majority of countries of the formerSoviet empire in Europe and its local offshoots elsewhere. In differentcountries there have been varying degrees of political change and the scaleand extent of the introduction of market mechanisms and privatization hasbeen extremely uneven. We publish two articles which reflect on East andCentral Europe and which attempt to theorize those experiences. ColinSparks and Anna Reading look at the main currents of social theory whichhave tried t o explain the nature of the end of communism and itsaftermath. They apply propositions derived from these to the study oftelevision in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. KarolJakubowicz makes wider geographical generalizations, but concentrateshis attention mostly on Poland. Despite recognizing the continuingpolitical pressure on the media, he is finally optimistic as to the chances of‘depoliticizing’ television [...] (Editorial) more

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New Communication Technologies: A Challenge for Press Freedom

Colin Sparks (ed.)

Paris: UNESCO (1991), 109 pp.