10th ECREA ECC in Ljubljana 

In collaboration with the Slovene Communication Association, the Social Communication Research Center hosted the 10th ECREA European Communication Conference in Ljubljana. Held from September 24–26 at the Faculty of Social Sciences, this event brought together over 1,600 communication and media scholars from Europe and beyond.  

The central theme, “Communication and Social (Dis)Order,” encouraged reflection on political, economic, environmental, health, and technological disruptions, and their (dys)functional impacts on society. While the speed and scope of contemporary communicative developments and social disruptions can easily generate an impression of unprecedented changes, felt either as a breakdown of the “old” order or the creation of a “new” one, this sensation is by no means exclusive to the present moment. 

Ilija Tomanić Trivundža, Boris Mance, and Igor Vobič, members of the Social Communication Research Centre, acted in the local organizing committee. 

More about the conference here.

Special Panel of the Social Communication Research Center at the 10^th ECREA ECC

The Social Communication Research Center organized special panel “Contemporary issues of the Slovene media system: Problems and regulatory responses” at the ECREA ECC in Ljubljana. The panel, chaired by Sašo Slaček Brlek discussed the following themes: 

1. Unveiling homogenization trends in news production: A study of content repackaging and ownership structures in Slovenian journalism 

Boris Mance, Ema Brglez, Luka Kronegger, Marko Robnik Šikonja, Aleš Žagar, Igor Vobič 

Journalism studies employing diverse theoretical frameworks and methodologies have consistently highlighted significant trends towards homogenization within news. These include the prevalent use of information subsidies, a shift towards desk-bound journalism, and a pronounced tendency towards news recycling. Across various traditions and organizational settings, investigations into news production have revealed a growing inclination towards standardized processes driven by editorial demands for immediacy and frequency, as well as managerial pressures to reduce production costs, reconfiguring social control in the newsroom, journalistic skills and news production processes. This has resulted in the adoption of highly standardized news production and various forms of second-hand journalism. This study aims to assess the degree of homogenization by examining the interplay between the creation of original content and the repackaging of existing content, often termed “churnalism”. By harvesting the daily textual content from approximately 200 Slovenian media outlets of all formats, encompassing websites, print, television, and radio programs, we conduct the analysis by identifying factually identical (or partially modified) news content among them. Furthermore, we explore the extent to which patterns of factual similarity align with the ownership structures of news media outlets that share identical content. Additionally, we also analyse the extent to which identified factual content is attributed to news media outsourcing, either by other news media entities such as news agencies, or by other sources which include boundary news actors, such as commercial, political, or civic entities, which presenting their content through “pseudo-events” in the form of press conferences or press releases. 

2. Structural transformations of the Slovene press market in the attention economy 

Sašo Slaček Brlek, Peter Sekloča 

We examine the dynamics that are reshaping the Slovenian media landscape, driven by changes in the global media ecosystem. The integration of the internet into the processes of capital accumulation has redirected advertising revenues to digital platforms. This redirection has had a significant impact on the news media, which has seen a marked decline in revenue despite fewer cost-negative changes in news distribution. The newspaper industry is adapting through downsizing and cost-cutting measures. Despite modest increases in added value, profitability is maintained through pressure on wages. These trends are also characteristic of the Slovenian newspaper industry, albeit with considerable differences. Revenue trends highlight significant differences between general dailies and more specialized niche publications, with the latter recording slight revenue growth while the circulation of the former continues to decline at an annual rate of about 10%. Media companies are pursuing two main strategies to compensate for declining revenues in the print market: Diversification into the organization of events and closer cooperation with advertisers, which allows them to leverage their comparative advantages over digital platforms. 

3. Media law and regulation in a small state on the European periphery: Status quo amid a complex multiplicity of actors and interests 

Jernej Kaluža, Jernej Amon Prodnik, Nina Žnidaršič, Nana Čemas 

It is extremely difficult to change media legislation in Slovenia, as the experience of the last twenty years shows. Any such attempt is usually accompanied by criticism from various spectrums of civil society and political polarization, which results in proposals for new media laws not being implemented. Media law is also characterized by extraordinary complexity, as it is an area that touches on many other regulatory systems and legislations from the fields of the economy, public administration, digital transition, criminal law, etc. The same applies to the heterogeneity of the actors involved: representative associations of journalists, media owners, regulators, human rights organizations, media operators and distributors, local politicians, representatives of various citizens’ initiatives, etc. In this paper, we present an ongoing work in which we analyze the process of law implementation and the perspectives of the different actors using the example of the current proposal for a new media law (ZMed-1) in Slovenia, which can also be seen in the context of the attempt to implement the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) into national legislation. The research is based on interviews with the relevant actors and on data analysis of documents (written responses produced during the public debate on the adoption of the law).  

4. The role of national regulators in the EU media law 

Tanja Kerševan 

This contribution examines the European Union’s (EU) media regulation, which addresses digital communication challenges impacting media freedom and pluralism. It critically reflects on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA)’s redistribution of competencies between EU member states and the supranational level, in the context of increasing reliance on global private actors for digital governance. The analysis explores enforcement and compliance issues, highlighting the variances in interpretation of EU regulations and the differences in resources of national regulators, which may undermine the intended outcomes. With a specific focus on Slovenia, this contribution considers how national media regulatory frameworks interact with, adapt to, and reflect broader EU media policy goals, thereby contributing to the discussion on the democratic legitimacy of EU media regulation. It highlights the growing disconnect between public deliberations and regulatory decisions, emphasizing the complexities of governing the digital public sphere within the EU’s multi-level governance system. 

Worlds of Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences 

As a pre-event to the 10th ECREA ECC 2024, Social Communication Research Centre and Department for Journalism hosted the Worlds of Journalism Study Meeting. On 23th and 24th September 50 journalism researchers from five continents attended the meeting, hosted by Tomas Hanitzsch (LMU Munich, Germany) and Igor Vobič who acted as a local host. Participants discussed the process of data collection in the 3rd wave of the study, set publication plans and charted the common future paths of the consortium. 

More about the Worlds of Journalism Study here.