ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the transformation of the media system and its role in society, as well as its influence on the public communication process. It focuses more on the actors and strategies – local as well as global – that shaped this process of change. The chapter presents the trajectory of change through the decade, in both the global and local contexts. It addresses the phenomenon that first appeared in the middle of the nineteenth century, when mass-circulation newspapers sold cheaply because they advertised mass-produced goods. The study of post-Soviet change would be incomplete without an inquiry into the development of the media sector. The mass media were deeply transformed by the sweeping process of change, while at the same time helping to shape it. The role of the media in the political history of the 1990s was profound, while the media themselves were subjected to tremendous influence by relevant groups and important economic actors.
