Sparks provides a challenging reassessment of the impact of the collapse of communism on the media systems of Eastern Europe. He analyzes both the changes themselves and their implications for the ways in which we think about the mass media.

Preface
Introduction
A Crisis of the Critical Project
Totalitarianism and the Media
Media Theory and the Decline of the Communist System
Negotiated Revolutions
The Fate of Civil Society
The Struggle over Broadcasting Law
The Emerging Media Systems
Conclusions
Understanding the Transition

Colin Sparks is a professor at the Centre for Communication and Information Studies at the Univeristy of Westminster and Co-Editor of Media, Culture and Society.

Anna Reading is a lecturer at Southbank University and Assistant Editor of Media, Culture and Society.