Democratization and Advancement of Media Pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Obstructive Mechanisms in Media

Abstract

The establishment and development of media pluralism is an important prerequisite for the democratization of media systems. Exposure of the media to various aspects of instrumentalization significantly limits the process of its democratization, which results in the media being inadequately differentiated, politically polarised, and commercially instrumentalized, thus narrowing the space for media organizations to act in a professional and free manner, based on public interest. The aforementioned trends point to the dominant presence and agency of obstructive mechanisms within the process of media and media systems democratization and establishment of media pluralism. Concerning the aforementioned, the paper presents mechanisms or patterns of agency that primarily obstruct the development of internal media pluralism in the media market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Internal pluralism is especially significant for the process of successful media democratization since it is a common case that external pluralism merely serves the purpose of providing a formal cover for meeting criteria as regards plurality of media companies and their respective editorial policies. To this end, the paper identifies critical issues in media practice and journalism as a profession in Bosnia and Herzegovina, featuring them as primary aspects within the context of effective democratization and orientation towards the successful establishment of differentiation of media content at the level of individual media organizations. The level of criticality of various aspects of the media is examined from the perspective of both journalists and editors employed with respective media organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of media managers in this media market.