Media systems beyond national boundaries: Towards a new paradigm?

Abstract

In recent decades, media systems went through deep transformations, due to social phenomena such as globalization and digitalization; thus, they are to rewrite their boundaries, closely related as those of national states in which media operate. Since the Four theories of the press, studies on communication systems assumed the nation as a privileged frame for the analysis of the relationship between media, political and social structure; yet, what happen when new technologies, mass migration or even financial and institutional supranational bodies burst redefining media production and national cultural identity? Can we still consider national view of media system valid and to what extent can we talk about transnational media systems? Which dimensions are better able to explain the change? In this article, I try to answer these questions from a macro perspective and with a multidimensional approach in order to identify variables useful for defining media systems beyond national boundaries. A new model for studying media systems untied from administrative and geographical states should take into account: 1) The internationalization of media ownership, that is foreign investments in national media organizations and vice versa; 2) The technological development, that encourages circulation of media contents and information on a large and global scale; 3) The national legislation on media, where we can use to trace the degree of supranationalisation by the laws; 4) the language, that is the ability of cultural and linguistic to unify through the media communities and groups around the world.