Dear All, I hope you will find this call for papers interesting. Please excuse the cross-posting. Best regards, Nanne Call for Papers MASS MEDIA IN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE AND SOUTHERN EUROPE: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES Session organized by the COST A30 Action at the International Media Conference COMPARING MEDIA SYSTEMS: WEST MEETS EAST April 23-25, 2007, Kliczków Castle, Wrocław, Poland MASS MEDIA IN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE AND SOUTHERN EUROPE: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES Hallin and Mancini’s book leaves post-Communist countries out of consideration. In line with the general purpose of the conference, the objective of this panel is to see whether their framework can be applied to Central and Eastern European countries, and in particular to test the hypothesis that their media systems are closest to the polarized-pluralist (“Mediterranean”) media system identified by the two authors. The panel is therefore dedicated to comparative papers and single region and country studies concerning Central and Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. We invite papers comparing ownership patterns of commercial media and the press, public service media, media control and regulation, alternative media, journalism practices, Europeanization vs. nationalism of the public spheres, information society, and other compararive perspectives. Papers on the role of media in post-authoritarian and post-communist transition and democratization are also welcome. This panel is organized by Karol Jakubowicz, Gianpietro Mazzoleni, and Miklos Sukosd within the COST A30 Action „East of West: Setting a New Central and Eastern European Media Research Agenda” and will be chaired by Karol Jakubowicz. Please send abstracts and queries to Karol Jakubowicz (jkarol7@tlen.pl), Gianpietro Mazzoleni (gianpietro.mazzoleni@unimi.itl), and Miklos Sukosd (sukosdm@ceu.hu) by February 15, 2007. For more details, please visit the conference site: http://www.zksid.politologia.uni.wroc.pl/index.php?lang=en