The allocation of state advertising to private media corporations in Europe: legal and regulatory frameworks

Abstract

This study introduces a cross-country comparative analysis of the institutional mechanisms, legislative and regulatory procedures for allocating and distributing state institutional advertising to private news media organisations across nine European countries. I provide an assessment of the extant frameworks in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, based on an extensive review of the academic literature. This cluster of countries represents the two models for media systems conceptualised by Hallin and Mancini (2004): the Polarised Pluralist and the Democratic Corporatist media systems. Various research questions are raised in relation to the main variables identified for the comparative analysis: legal and regulatory frameworks; the competent authorities; tender preparation and awarding; monitoring and enforcement; and transparency. Data was collected from multiple publicly national and international sources. Results show significant variations between countries in the level of institutional transparency regarding the allocation and distribution of state institutional advertising.