Comparing Media Systems

Published in 2004, Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics is probably the most significant and ambitious theoretical analysis of the relationship between media systems and democracy since the Four Theories of the Press by Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm (1956). Based on a survey of media institutions, particularly the press, in 18 West European and North American democracies, the book [Page 124]offers an updated set of models for analyzing and comparing media systems.

Building on their own long-time cooperation and on work by other scholars (particularly Jay Blumler and Michael Gurevitch), authors Daniel C. Hallin, a University of California, San Diego, professor, and Paolo Mancini, an Italian scholar, base their typology on four dimensions by which to carry out comparisons: (1) economic—that is, the ...