Becoming pan-European? Transnational media and the European public sphere (2009)

Abstract

Research about the European public sphere has so far mainly focused on the analysis of national media neglecting one dimension of transnational communication, namely transnational media. These media could serve as horizontal links between the still nationally segmented public spheres and they could be platforms of a transnational European discourse. Four ideal-types of transnational media can be distinguished: 1) national media with a transnational mission, 2) inter-national media, 3) pan-regional media and 4) global media. With this framework we analyse transnational media in Europe showing that a multitude of transnational media developed in Europe. They have acquired a small but growing and influential audience. Whether transnational media fulfil the normative demands related to the concept of a transnational public sphere remains an open question as some of these media heavily depend on government subsidies and there is a clear lack of research on the European discourses represented in these media.

Brüggemann, Michael; Schulz-Forberg, Hagen (2009): Becoming Pan-European? Transnational Media and the European Public Sphere. In International Communication Gazette 71 (8), pp. 693–712. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048509345064.