RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

Official communication policy wi!l in turn be the fallout of a vvider battle over which political and economic strategy particular Western countries should f ollow . And indeed , as Denis McOuail ( 1986) points out, Western European countries can be divided along the lines of whether they stick with the old "cultural" policy with regard to broadcasting , or adopt a new "industrial" policy . A "cultural policy" , pursued in full form now mainly by Scandinavian countries , is dominated by concerns about protecting and promoting the national language and cultural products of ensuring that both the traditional broadcast media anđ the new eiectronic ones fulfill a number of social functions associateđ with public service broadcasting , An "industrial" policy is a reflection of a general determination to favor the free play of market forces , nationally and internationally , as well as economic and political integration of the West. It seeks to harness mass communication for the pursuit of those goals , opening it up up to private enterprise anđ redefining its social remit in such a way as to make it an instrument of economic development. Experience shows that the existence of a commercial sector polarizes broadcasting , leaving little room for alternative or socially -motivated private media . Italy in the late seventies and France in the early eighties were the scenes of tremenđous explosions of alternative , "free" radio , serving as an outlet for groups of every possible persuasion and for the expression of an unprecented range of views, tastes , life-styles. Later , most of it got swept up in the rush to commercialization . In ltaly , the remaining "free radio stations . . . (became ) an outlet for marginal youth, the young unemployed" (Beaud , 1980; 13 5). The same may also happen eventually in Holland , where private local broađcasting was legalized in 1988, but refuseđ it official financial backing , and preventeđ by law from carrying advertising . In Finlanđ, as Paldan (1986) points out, the government - unlike those of other Scandinavian countries - has chosen not to support experiments with non-commercial kinds of local broadcasting, and introduced local radio operating on a strictly commercial basis . It did not, however, have sufficient ađvertising revenue , due in part small size of the audience . This soon created pressures for a liberalization of the rules , in effect to make possible concentration of capital and introduction of larger stations, capable of making more топеу (Palđan, 1986; Svenđsen, 1987). The same has happeneđ in Britain and is begmning to happen in the Federal Republic of Сегтапу .