Electronic Media Indust Nation

Electronic Media and Industrialized Nations considers the approaches that industrialized nations have taken to introduce, develop, control, and use electronic media. Browne compares and contrasts through detailed case studies, the experiences of several nations—France, Germany (both East and West), the Soviet Union and Russia, and the Netherlands—by presenting them in light of the political, economic, cultural, geographical, and demographic factors that both shape and reflect society. He then compares the pros and cons of those experiences, adds specific examples from still other industrialized nations, and proposes an "ideal" system as a way of focusing attention on what the media could and should do to play supportive roles in society.

Browne readily acknowledges his own biases. He makes it abundantly clear that he believes those who regulate, administer, produce, and receive have an obligation to understand how the electronic media function and how the media should and can follow standards that will better ensure their responsibility for the development of healthy societies.

While the present work is based on Browne's award-winning Comparing Broadcast Systems, it goes much further in terms of its coverage of such subjects as government-media relationships, minorities and the media, uses of the Internet, and the possible influence of "media barons," the European Union, and transnational corporations. Where the two Germanys and the Soviet Union/Russia are concerned, he provides an account of the role of the media before, during, and after both German unification and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He also places greater emphasis on how media portrayalof religion, class, language, ethnicity, and political affiliation provide us with images of the relative health of civil society.

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This is a totally revamped version of the author's earlier book (1989). Brown (speech communication, U. of Minnesota) offers a historically-oriented description and analysis of electronic media in the industrialized world outside the United States. Included is a projection of the future electronic media and a model of an "ideal" broadcast system. The work studies systems in France, the Netherlands, Germany, the Soviet Union, and Russia (information on Japan was left out of this work because of space considerations, but it is available from the author). General consideration is also given to Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Among the issues discussed are the dynamism of electronic media and the ways in which political, cultural, linguistic, geographic, technological, and economic forces affect its development. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr. Donald R. Browne is a professor and chair of the Department of Speech-Communication at the University of Minnesota. He has studied and written about broadcast systems, drawing on his experience as an overseas correspondent for the Voice of America and an international broadcast consultant. In addition to teaching at the University of Minnesota, Browne has taught courses in comparative and international broadcasting at Boston University, Purdue University, and the American University of Beirut.