Editorial
EDITORIAL
Nada Zgrabljić Rotar
; department of Communication Studies, Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb
Abstract
You have before you the first issue of Media Research’s 20th year. Let this anniversary year be an excuse for us briefly look back upon the journal’s history and evolution.
We initiated Media Research in complicated and difficult times for both our country and the scientific community. The first issue was published in 1995 as the first Croatian journal specialized, on a scientific level, for the areas of media and journalism, and intended for the scholars and students of public communication, journalists and the interested cultural public. The aim was to improve the theory of journalism and to stimulate scientific research of media. Such research were scarce, and those which did exist were published in books, collection of papers, or journals dedicated to other disciplines, thus being less available to the interested public. The communication scientific community was at that time a small one, and one of insufficient strength, which is why the international editorial board of Media Research was established as a non-institutionalized independent interdisciplinary group of scientists. Due to the lack of empirical research it was at first difficult to obtain quality papers. Collaborating with scientists from other countries was a way for the journal to reach set goals regarding the quality of articles that were being accepted. Quality was tested via a system of double anonymous review. As it was noticeable that there is a lack of valuable empirical research and articles, so it was difficult to find expert reviewers willing to improve the quality of reviewed work with advice or recommendation. This we, however, never gave up on, since we believed that a journal must fulfill its formative function in the creation of standard of published work, that it must follow the criteria of quality set by foreign journal within the discipline respectively.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the journal we published the book „Media Research and the media discipline 1995-2005“ in which we looked back on the changing trends within the discipline during a period of ten years, based on an elaborate report on all published scientific work up to that point. For the occasion, many prominent persons from public and cultural life contributed to the book and commented on the importance of scientific journals and the role of Media Research in the development of the communication scientific discipline in Croatia. We have also participated in the organization of a number of conferences such as, for example, The role of Local Radio-Stations in the Development of Democracy, Media and Ethics, Intermedia, Media Literacy in the Digital Age – Cultural, Economic and Political Perspectives.
Since the journal’s beginning in 1995 up to today, we have published several hundred scientific papers, theoretical or empirical research of authors from all over the world. Next to Croatian authors, we have published authors from Australia, USA, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Poland, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic and Belgium. We developed the internationalization of our journal especially through partnership with international European projects COST A20 “Digital Radio Cultures in Europe – The Impact of the Internet on the Mass Media in Europe” , COST A30 „East of West: setting a New Central and Eastern European Media Research Agenda”, COST Action IS0906 „Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies“. In regards to the above mentioned and other projects, we have published a series of thematic issues edited by guest editors: Ethics and Media; Interactive Publishing; New Media Agenda: For a European Media Policy in Croatia; Photography as a Medium: Images of a War; Dilemmas of Contemporary Journalism; Media and the Public Interest; Gender, Sexuality and Socialist Popular Culture; International Journalistic Ideology in the Context of National Traditions of Journalism; Participatory Journalism. Throughout the years the journal became internationally visible and recognized, and in our, as well as some neighboring countries, similar journals were started, using Media Research as a positive model and collaborator. We are present in relevant bases such as SCOPUS, Sociological Abstracts and others, and we provide open access to the journal through the base http://srce.hrčak.hr where more than 260.000 visits were recorded, which is an average of 10.000 per issue. We believe this to be an indicator of our journal’s role in the development of communication discipline and media theory. We are content to have become a useful source of bibliographical information on recent literature and a reliable source of information on theoretical and empirical research in the international scientific community, with integral texts. We look back with pride on our results so far, results we have accomplished with our authors, reviewers and editors, and we thank our subscribers and all those who contributed to this project. We invite you to keep sending us your papers and contributions, as well as your suggestions, praise and critique.
Editor-in-Chief
Nada Zgrabljić Rotar
Keywords
Media Research; 20th year; international journal
Hrčak ID:
126386
URI
Publication date:
23.7.2014.
Visits: 848 *