Intermission - media and media policy in Austria - is the blunt title of a sharp analysis carried out by two young Austrian journalists. Their resume is radical: the Austrian state regulator has failed to set an appropriate framework for a diverse media landscape, particularly for the electronic sector. Old traditions of corporate consensus politics (Sozialpartnerschaft) have led to mutual interweavings of politics and the media. This has paralysed the media development of the country such that private television has been left stuck in the pipeline. In fact, the Austrian government is the last in Europe to support a monopoly with the public broadcasting corporation ORF, although Europe has long opted for an open and pluralist broadcasting structure. Besides technical frequency limitations it has primarily been political inertia, but also the argument that private television via antenna would not survive economically which still hinders the government to open the market in free-to-air TV.
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