Advancing comparative studies in political communication research: What factors explain the transformation of media systems?

Abstract

Hallin and Mancini's Comparing Media Systems has provided Mass Communication research with valuable tools to compare media settings from a transnational viewpoint. However, most recent contributions around media systems theory focus on suggesting new dimensions or variables to update the three models presented in the authors’ book, leaving behind the discussion concerning the factors galvanizing the transformation processes. We then ask: What factors explain the transformation of media systems? Through a literature review and the discussion of an extensive array of examples from different countries, our essay formulates new insights to refine a crucial concept in media studies. We examine material, institutional, and cultural logics of change to point out how the described transformations might unfold at different paces in particular social systems. By resorting to the idea of “critical junctures,” our essay illustrates how supposedly isolated shifts in the media systems can have unexpected impacts.