New Europe’s Civil Society, Democracy and the Media Thirteen Years After: The Story of the Czech Republic

A paper by Tomáš P. Klvaňa, fall 2003 fellow, argues that the Czech Republic’s democracy is underperforming, and Czech media are a significant contributor to the problem. Formerly serious Czech journalism has moved into infotainment, and is influenced by the nostalgia for communist times, flattening public life and creating stale discourse. Klvaňa asserts that the poor quality of Czech media deprives citizens of a broad range of cultural resources and impedes their pursuit of greater equality and freedom.

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