ABSTRACT
Political and economic processes, often contradictory in themselves, in the former socialist countries are commonly and vaguely labeled postsocialism. The importance of political parties and political pluralism cannot be ignored in the process of democratization. This chapter explores whether changes in the political and economic system will produce significant changes in the media. The idea of public service media is used as a cover for paternal or authoritarian communication systems, where a high concern for people is based on the protective role of the media. The newly established political parties are more authoritative institutions than they are a bridge between the state and civil society. The "original sin" of socialism was its anticapitalism—that is, that it was only the antithesis of capitalism. The chapter addresses how, a "post-socialist" civil society can be constructed to "deregulate" the dependence of the media on the state and/or the market and to maximize freedom of communication.
