UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 7th Annual International Postgraduate Conference

After the political changes in 1989 Hungary gradually became a part of the global media space. When it developed its legal structure, the Hungarian media regulation followed external models, which worked well for other regions, but on the field, they did not work. The Hungarian media regulators were thinking only about the „inclusion" elements of the media reform, but forgot the „exclusion" ones. They didn’t take into consideration the low living standard of most Hungarians, the problematic Hungarian political culture and the special Eastern-European social, cultural circumstances.

Nowadays the Hungarian media represents a fictional, rich, homogenous country to its citizens. Minorities, poverty-stricken or ill persons practically do not appear on the screen. So the viewers can live in the illusion that Hungary does not have to listen to different voices it its own media space. The adaptation of media models was an optimistic decision, the decision-makers believed in the media operators and they hoped that the Hungarian political culture is mature enough to comprehend the paradigm shifts of the media; however this belief didn’t function in practice.

The global media space includes and excludes the Hungarian media space at the same time. And this phenomenon is typical for the characteristics of the media regulation and the broadcasted programs, too. It is an illusion that all kind of programs could be adapted to all countries. Several types of programs are popular in different countries and unpopular in Hungary. Court shows are stabile programs in Germany, but they couldn’t find a „media home" in Hungary. Probably Hungarians still have a negative attitude to the world of law and they can’t get used to the representation of law in the media.

So an effective global media policy has to take in account the cultural and social differences between countries and regions. Inclusion depends on understanding of exclusion.