ABSTRACT
Why engage in comparative media law and policy research? One might argue that all research is in essence comparative even if, as a result of the parochial urge, comparisons are subconscious or excluded. We tend towards the comparative even if it is through the desire to have greater understanding of the singular. But without the conscious effort, comparisons are mangled, inadequate, often a disservice. In this chapter, we start with the assumption that comparative research has major benefits: comparisons can lead to fresh, exciting insights and a deeper understanding of issues that are of central concern in different countries. They can identify gaps in knowledge and policies and may point to possible directions that could be followed, directions that previously may have been unknown to observers or, in the case of media law, legal reformers. Comparisons may also help to sharpen the focus of analysis of the subject under study by suggesting new perspectives.2 Comparative media law research can give us a better understanding of how one country, or even medium, borrows from the traditions and conventions of another (such as the links between film and broadcasting, the PSB models within Europe, free speech notions in Latin American countries); how intellectual property migrates across various media over time; and where best practices exist in the world for the regulation of new communications technologies.3 Moreover, comparative research can give us an improved knowledge as to whether specific media patterns and structures are causally conditioned by social, political, economic, historical and geographic circumstances. Partly because of the growing internationalization and the concomitant
export and import of social, cultural and economic manifestations across national borders, and partly because of political, economic, social and technological transitions, the demand for comparative research has grown. It is increasingly evident that contemporary communications structures and patterns can only be understood from a comparative perspective. Only by examining relationships across media forms, across national and regional boundaries, across cultures, institutions and environments and over time,4 can a full picture of the processes of change and globalization be created. Hence the growth of the use of comparative research and the increased need, as well as demand, for comparisons.
