Since 1989, a new media landscape has emerged in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Fundamental changes in the media and communications system included ownership patterns; forms of media organization; emergence of media markets; journalistic practices; relationships between politics and the media; regulation processes, stakeholders and institutions; and modalities of media use. A new system has been established, predominantly designed according to Western models and with heavy influence of Western players.

Twenty years later, it is time to explore the results of the transformation process. Critics point out that public service broadcasting is in crisis, political pressure on the media persists, journalism performance is often weak, ownership concentration is increasing, media pluralism is at risk, minority access to the media remains scarce, nationalist and hate speech is spreading, technological change in communications is slow, and commercialization and tabloidization dominate the media landscape. Yet others maintain that media change has been a success (of sorts), with the media in post-Communist countries being as good (or as bad) as those elsewhere.

CEE media research has largely oriented itself along the lines of Western European and American conceptualizations, and yet those concepts have not always reflected the issues and trends of transition. Media studies in the region have had to struggle with a discrepancy between (idealized) Western concepts and Eastern realities. Today, one must ask: Were Western models, as described to the new democracies in glowing terms, appropriate for the post-1989 social, political, economic and cultural realities of CEE? How do institutions perform when transplanted into a disabling rather than enabling environment? If the strategy of imitating Western models was wrong, what other choices exist? Is the disillusionment that many feel justified? Could more have been achieved in this period? What should media systems and media policy aim for during the next five years?

The conference “Beyond East and West” will trace post-1989 development and indicate where communication research in the CEE region is after 20 years of transformation. The conference provides an opportunity for critically re-examining the social, technological and policy changes in the Central and Eastern European media landscape, for exploring future trajectories of media development in the region, and for addressing those elements that seek to align regional media systems in the 21^st century.

Moreover, conference participants will compare the findings from CEE transformations to those from other regions in transition – from Latin America to China and the Middle East. What can we learn from these changes? What are the differences between media systems in older and newer democracies? Is standard Western media and communication research appropriate to study the media and society in regions undergoing systemic transformation? We will discuss new concepts for media analysis and develop new ways to understand media use, impact and performance. To build future research for communication in transition, this conference will explore the necessary building-blocks for a research agenda.