Media Beyond Socialism treats the changing relationships among media, state, economy, and civil society in the current period of transition in East Europe from socialism to the establishment of Western-type democracies. Analyzing the relevance of mass communication and particularly of the media in the democratization process, the book addresses such issues as the problems of civil society, the principles of power and profit maximization in the communication sphere, the role the media have played in the "velvet revolution," and concerns surrounding East Europe's new "information age." First...