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Transnational ownership and local culture: content analysis of two Croatian daily newspapers

Željka Zdravković ; University of Zadar, Department of sociology


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Abstract

Based on the content analysis of type and profile of articles in cultural sections of two Croatiandaily newspapers, this paper deals with the issue of changes in media ownership and the influencethese changes have on media as generators of critical public sphere and actors in fostering regionalcultural characteristics. This analitic focus is based on the hypothesis that successful integrationinto globalization processes is possible only if strong local cultural identity is present. TwoCroatian regional daily papers with different ownership structure were analysed. The characterof articles in cultural section was taken as an indicator of editoral politics change that came to lifewith media privatization processes. The analysis dealt with in articles Slobodna Dalmacija, dailynewspapers from Split, year before Slobodna Dalmacija came under transnational coorporateownership (2004.) and year after the change (2006.). Daily newspapers Novi List from Rijeka,was analysed in the same time frame, since Novi List has different ownership structure thanSlobodna Dalmacija.For Slobodna Dalmacija analysis reveils the change in forms of presented cultural themes fromlocal-regional aspect to national and international character along with fewer number of criticalarticles. In Novi List, that did not undergo an ownership change, trend is quite the opposite;articles content changes from national and international towards local and regional themes withno specific change in critical approach in published material. Since Novi List is one of the raredaily newspapers in Croatia that has no transnational coorporate ownership, analysed datasuggest that the absence of such ownership enables and promotes development of cultural valuesspecific for one region while maintaining critical local public sphere.

Keywords

Content analysis; Croatian society; culture; media; public sphere; transnational ownership

Hrčak ID:

190050

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/190050

Publication date:

14.10.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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