To browse Academia. This chapter provides an overview of the most important features related to political and media transition of the Western Balkans countries, while each following section analyses specific aspect in which public service broadcasting PSB transformation took place and faced significant difficulties.
The three domains in which challenges to PSB transformation occurred include politics, the economy and technological development. Recent years have brought about new challenges to media landscapes across Europe. Pressures from commercial broadcasters and declining audiences have been compounded by political and financial pressures that have led to questions about the very existence, role and purpose of public service broadcasting.
An event held at the LSE last week addressed the future of public service media in Europe. One of the speakers, Peter Bajomi-Lazar of Budapest Business School, discusses here the challenges for public service broadcasting in the Western Balkans.
This paper identifi es the main issues of public service broadcasters PSBs in six countries of the Western Balkans Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia in the period between and , using a traditional literature review approach and document analysis.
The analysis confi rmed that PSBs in the region share the following largely intertwined issues: substantial fi nancial problems; attempts to solve their diffi cult fi nancial situations by competing with private commercial broadcasters, resulting in extensive broadcasting of entertainment content at the expense of public interest content; continuous pressure from state and political elites, resulting in editorial dependence and politically biased news content; problems adjusting to the new technological environment and delays in digitalization.
