The Enabling Environment for Free and Independent Media

Abstract:     
Shaping an effective democratic society requires many steps. The formation of media law and media institutions is one of the most important. Too often, this process of building a media that advances democracy is undertaken without a sufficient understanding of the many factors involved. This analysis is designed to improve such understanding, provide guidance for
those who participate in the process of constructing such a media, and indicate areas for further study.

Laws are frequently looked at in isolation-as interchangeable parts that must be included to have an effective and democracy-promoting media. But it is not just the words of a law that are important. Each society has a cluster of activities, interactions of laws, laws and the setting in which they exist, that make those laws more effective or less so. Different states, at different stages of development, require different strategies for thinking about the role of media and, as a result, or its design and structure.

Working Paper Series