CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Wessenauer, Veszna |
|---|---|
| Title | New challenges to media freedom and pluralism: the case-study of Hungary |
| Summary | This thesis is a comparative analysis of different approaches of addressing the new challenges of media freedom and pluralism. The subject of the analysis is the European Union, Council of Europe and a member state of both organizations, Hungary. The reason for choosing Hungary is the concerns around its media landscape. Recently the media ownership concentration in Hungary became extremely disproportionate and defines a phenomena which has been called “soft-censorship” . The paper unfold the meaning of this relatively new term and explain the characteristics of the threat. As the name indicates this phenomena is a type of restriction on freedom of expression. It is “soft” because in contrast to the traditional censorship the soft-censorship occurs indirectly. Soft-censorship is a censorship without actual censors. Since it is a hidden threat it is difficult to prove its existence. In order the describe soft-censorship one must be aware of all the factors which contribute to the unfavorable environment. By analyzing the Hungarian media’s history, political implications, authorities and media legal framework the reader will be able to understand whether the circumstances of the media impose and actual threat on the right to freedom of expression and the right to information. Chilling effect is a type of threat on freedom of expression which has similar features as soft-censorship. The adjective “chilling” implies as hidden, indirect nature of the effect. Because of the assumed similarities the paper will assess the differences and similarities of the two type of threat. Hungary is a member state of the Council of Europe and the European Union as well. The thesis will discover how these two regional organizations approach the issue of media pluralism; what the similar and different elements of the approach are. By comparing the two jurisdictions along the same aspects the paper will evaluate the actual effect of the institutions on media pluralism in case of Hungary. By the end of the paper the reader will have an idea of the answers of the following questions: should we consider the latest changes in Hungary’s media as a new type of chilling effect on freedom of expression? If there is a threat on Hungary’s media freedom and pluralism are external actors (EU and CoE) able to address the problem? What is the root of the concerns around the Hungarian media environment? |
| Supervisor | Parmar Sejal |
| Department | Legal Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/wessenauer_veszna.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University