Between reality and dream: Eastern European media transition, transformation, consolidation, and integration

This article explores the progress made in the transition and transformation of Eastern Europe's news media and the potential for their integration into the Western European media scene. Transformation and consolidation in Eastern European societies and in their media systems should not be pursued in the name of integration. For these societies, these processes have a raison d'etre of their own: reaching the stated desideratum of a bona fide democracy, which means a degree of sameness in the key aspects of their political culture; for the media, it means professionalization based on shared standards of journalism and media roles.