Lost in transition?
A summary of six country reports for the project
Youth and Media in Transition Societies
by the
Robert Bosch Foundation
&
Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
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Countries
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Bulgaria
Croatia
Germany
Poland
Romania
Serbia
2 EU members: G, P
 3 EU candidate
countries: BG, CRO,
RO
 1 Country (SER) in
SAP negotiating SAA
---------------------------- 2 post-war countries
(CRO&SER)
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2
Reporters
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Bulgaria: Rumyana Bozhkova
Croatia: Barbara Peranić
Germany: Nebojša Martinović
Poland: ALeksandra Lipczak & Manuela
Pliżga-Jonarska
Romania: Adrian Ardelean
Serbia: Marko Čadež & Radovan Kupres
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Transition
Change from socialist system to democracy:
 Change of the political framework
 Change of the legal framework
 Change of the role of the media
(SER&CRO: Change from war to post-conflict
reconstruction)
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Purpose of research to describe:
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Youth as target group for
the media
Youth’s self-perception in
the political life
How is the youth’s role in
transition seen by political
and social decisionmakers
How is youth included
into transition
Young generation:
 15-17 & 18-24 years
 in several reports up to
29 years of age
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Relevant mass media & mass
media platforms
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Television
Radio
Print media
Internet
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Focus & method of research
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Emphasis on how young generation uses mass
media for political information
Underlying assumption: informed young citizens
empowered to participate in transition,
particularly through civil society activism
General media sector structure and media
consumption patterns only as background
Meta-analysis of existing empirical data
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Structure of the reports
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9.
Introduction: Political environment in the country
Overview of the media sector in the country
Overview of existing studies relevant to the research
Monitoring of the relevant media to determine discourse on youth
issues
Media usage by young generation
Governmental and non-governmental initiatives for the young
generation
Presentation of (a) best-practice model (s)
Optional: interviews with experts
Conclusions & Evaluation  Discussion at this conference
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Findings:
1.1.Political environment & young
generation
EU – Members
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GER: Transition not typical, but “higher level of uncertainty among the whole population and
especially the youth”
POL: “Transformation process has been concluded in the most crucial aspects”
EU – Candidates:
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ROM: Only when ROM enters EU, transformation is over
BG: 1989-1996 “low speed” 1997 – now: “extensive reform package”
CRO: “has yet to complete its transition process”
SAP Country
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SER: “key problems remain” (SER+CRO still suffer from war)
YOUNG GENERATION:
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SER: Youth lost in transition
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CRO: Youth in Croatia – Lost in transition
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BG: Lost generation (because of emigration)
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ROM: Young generation has to be made “fit” for democracy
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POL: Abandoned generation
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GER: “Apparent luck of interest and trust of young people towards politics”
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1.2. Findings: Political environment
& young generation
Some common descriptions:
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Young generation leading in “revolutions” but
afterwards marginalised by the establishment;
Economic & other burdens of transition fall
heavily on young generation (unemployment,
fall of living standard, deterioration of
educational systems, reduced social benefits,
corruption & organised crime, inefficient legal
systems);
Civic involvement declining, mistrust in politics &
politicians rising;
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2.Findings: Media sector
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Proliferation of mass media outlets
Strong influx & dominant position of foreign
capital
Disappearance of rebel youth media (Polet,
Mladina, Non)
“Dumbing down” both in commercial sector &
PSB to increase market share (www.eumap.org)
Ethnic stereotyping persistent (Roma!) &
minority representation deficient (including GER)
Internet on the rise
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3.1. Findings: Existing studies on
youth & transition
Some common outcomes:
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Prevalent support for European integration
Less educated young people see more dangers coming from EU
integration (jobs!)
Democracy accepted (education & age!)
!POL: Degree of trust in the media is related to degree of interest in
politics – better orientation in public life strengthens a more critical
reception of media content
Acceptance of market economy and readiness for enterprise
(education!)
Retreat into private sphere & corresponding media interests such as
entertainment, sports, soaps, life-style…
Feeling of loss & social loneliness & turn to traditional values
(religious rites!) (less educated & less affluent)
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3.2. Findings: Existing studies on
youth & transition
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Television is the preferred mass media outlet both for entertainment &
political information (cheaper!)
Radio preferred for music and “instant information” as “background
companion”
Daily press is used less and less by the young generation (education!)
“Imagetext” format (Newsweek Polska), infotainment & outright
“tabloidisation” on the rise
Internet increasingly popular among young generation but costs and
education are limiting factors
Few examples of “civic media” or “youth to youth” media
“Media divide”: some minorities (BG: Roma!) gain significantly less media
access & attention - but other enjoy a positive attitude (ROM towards
German, i.e. western, ethnic minority)
General distrust of social institutions, including news media. But: less
educated youth trust news media more than better educated young people
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4+5. Monitoring of selected media
outlets
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Some mass media pay attention to providing content for and by the young
generation (Gazeta Wyborcza, Blic, Direkt tv show, Spoko, etc)
Content provided by “young” media (BG: Alma Mater, CRO: Radio Student,
etc., UniSpiegel) is popular and fosters critical social and political attitudes
Most “established” media do not see young generation as worth of
particular editorial and marketing strategies – therefore young people
disregard them as well (especially quasi PSB such as RTS, HRT, etc.)
Circulation & audience rising topics such as sex & crime, celebrities and
sports frame young generation far from reality
Internet is the mass media platform for the better educated and affluent
youth as it provides most choices
Post-conflict societies (but not only): occurrence of “hate-speech” towards
ethnic & other minorities
GER & other “old Europe” (in various degrees) fail to engage immigrant
youth significantly into public life
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6. Gov. & CSO initiatives for the
youth
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GER: “No shortage of projects, but
in some cases there is a lack of
cooperation”
POL: School parliaments, mock
elections, media literacy
workshops
CRO: “Gong” – 50% of all finalyear grammar school pupils
participated in workshops of that
CSO, RADIO101 (Omladinski
radio)
BG: www.izbori2005.org with over
4000 young participants
SER: Evronet (Mreža), 5’ RTS1
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Governments (GER exception)
tend to be passive;
Often lip-service only to
programmes for youth and
inclusion of young generation into
political decision-making
CSOs depend on external financial
assistance and sometimes content
input –important role of the
German political foundations
Lack of co-ordination (domestic &
external) waists possible synergies
Young generation is divided
according to social status, wealth,
ethnic background, location of
living, etc. so that initiatives have
to be tailored to specific needs
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7. Best practice models
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SER: Restart – RTS2 programme for young people from ex-Yu to foster
“Vergangenheitsbewältigung”
ROM: “Pausenradio” – radio in a German minority school in Temisoara
broadcasting twice daily news, features, music, etc.
BG: Agency for Youth & Sports supported in 1998 a project to create a
children‘s parliament
CRO: „Gong“ – a project to foster participation of young people in
democracy
POL (several): Nowy Staw Foundation in Lubin runs “EU media trainer”
empowering young people from local civil centres to prepare media reports
about their social environment
GER: DASDING by PSB SWR – 45´ interactive TV by young journalists on
various platforms; ZISCH – participating school classes receive free copies
of dailies and review content critically & can themselves write articles for
local papers
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9.1 Conclusions
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GER: It is important to reach
those youth who show little
interest in politics and society
(but sometimes care about social
activism)
POL: Polish people are tired by the
low quality of political culture,
including mass media – but mass
media are among few institutions
enjoying some social trust
People in CRO are tired of political
games and party conflicts and
their confidence in the media is
not that great. The country lacks
independent and non-profit youth
media
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BG: Although there is greater
diversity in the media, young
people are pejoratively presented
& denied access to the media to
influence politics & society as a
whole
ROM: The question remains how
to motive young people to
consume more news and current
affairs reporting especially if
young people are not strongly
integrated into politics
SER: Who will bring the country in
the next years into the EU if
young generation is excluded from
the political process? Gvt should
develop a national youth policy
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9.2.1 Additional aspects worth
examining
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Demographical trends indicate aging of
population throughout Europe &
already now Southeast Europe (except
Albanian population) belongs to the
oldest groups on the continent
Young people (especially less educated
with minority & migrant background)
especially jeopardised by
unemployment & poverty throughout
Europe
Post-conflict area in ex-Yu still impaired
by war experience, particularly young
people who were affected by violence
Migration issues increasingly affect
CEE & SEE as these are both labour
exporting & importing regions
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Digitalisation continues to change
media sector (4000 TV channels over
Europe)
Internet based services affect media
consumption
Transnational media concentration
continues with little public knowledge
about changes
Further liberalisation in the media
sector endorsed by EU (product
placement rules, revised Television
Without Frontiers Directive, etc.)
EU’s democratic deficit continues to
provoke public discontent & produces
“enlargement fatigue” affecting
perspectives of weakest part of Europe
-SEE
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10. Recommendations
?
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