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CLP09
International and European Issues of Media Regulation
PP 597
The Regulation of Electoral TV Advertising Across the World
C. Holtz-Bacha
1
1
Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
In the US, electoral advertising went on television with the presidential election campaign in 1952.Television spots soon became the most important means
of campaign advertising and in spite of the proliferation of the Internet and social network sites candidates still spend most of their budget on television
advertising. Due to the commercial media system and in respect of free speech, electoral advertising on television has not been subject to restrictive regu‑
lation. Even though other countries introduced electoral advertising on television almost as early as the US and television spots have become an important
campaign instrument across the world, practice and regulation differ significantly. The US model that allows for unlimited advertising did not spawn many
imitators and electoral advertising, if allowed at all, remains more or less restricted in most countries. The more rigorous regulation of political advertising
as opposed to commercial advertising attests to a different view on advertising when it comes to the process of political opinion formation. In addition,
the regulation of electoral advertising proves to be influenced by national characteristics of the political and electoral system as well as the type of broad‑
casting system. For instance, these national characteristics have consequences for the sponsorship of the advertising, since presidential systems are more
candidate-oriented as parliamentary systems.This paper presents findings on the regulation of electoralTV advertising and the system background of more
than 55 countries from all five continents. The information has been gathered in a survey conducted online during the last months of 2015 and in early
2016. The comparison reveals quite a variety of norms regulating the use of television for electoral advertising across the world which also have an impact
on the role of television spots as a campaign instrument and on their potential effects.
PP 598
From Telecommunication Policy Towards Media Policy – Explaining the Increased Politicization of the International Telecommunication
Union
S. Berghofer
1
1
Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Berlin, Germany
Despite its long history and its relevance in the regulation of international communication, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has hardly
been perceived as an important player in the field of media and communication policy. This was due to the fact that the organization was considered as
a functional and bureaucratic entity, mainly concerned with technological solutions and facilitating global interconnection. While this view has been chal‑
lenged in the academic discourse (Cogburn, 2001; Cogburn, 2004; Cowhey, 1990, p. 182; Drake, 2008), public attention for ITUs policies has hardly increased
in the last years. This seems to have changed recently. The World Conference on International Communication 2012 in Dubai (WCIT-12) received as much
public attention as no other ITU meeting before. This resulted from rumors, that the ITU was planning a“take over”of the internet. While it remains contest‑
ed whether these fears were reasonable or not (Hill, 2013, pp. 40–48; 60–62; Pfanner, 2012), the debate lead to a unsatisfying outcome. Only 89 countries
signed the new telecommunication regulations, while 56 refused to do so (Chenou & Radu, 2013; Glen, 2014).This is astonishing, since theTelecommunica‑
tion Regulations were always accepted unanimously within the 150 years of ITUs history. This proposal seeks to explain the failure of WCIT-12. Explanation
is provided by employing the concept of politicization of international institutions. Zürn (2014, p. 50) conceptualizes politicization as “making collectively
binding decisions a matter or an object of public discussion”. The politicization of international institutions describes a “growing public awareness of inter‑
national institutions and increased public mobilization of competing political preferences regarding institutions”and occurs when“international institutions
(potentially) exercise political authority but cannot build on sufficient stocks of legitimacy”(Zürn, Binder, & Ecker-Ehrhardt, 2012, p. 71; 96). Zürn (2014, pp.
50–51; Zürn et al., 2012, pp. 75–79) suggests three indicators to operationalize politicization: (1) rising awareness describes an increased perception of and
a greater interest in international institutions on the side of the citizens; (2) mobilization means an extension of resources invested in the decision making
process through increasing global activities of traditional interest groups as well as activist networks and NGOs; (3) contestation refers to conflicting views
on a policy and the opposing demands directed towards a political institution. Agents of contestation can be transnational interest groups but also national
parties and governments (often from developing countries) who publically critique injustice or illegitimacy of existing regimes. The analysis is based em‑
pirically (1) a key-word search based content analysis of major Newspapers articles since 1945 in order to determine the public perception and the rising
awareness towards the ITU; (2) a documentary analysis of ITUs policy documents in order to identify the contestation of specific topics within the ITU, and
(3) an analysis of the mobilization process during the WCIT-12. The findings show that the politicization of the ITU has increased constantly within the last
century and that politicization occurs especially when questions of (mass media) content regulation are at stake – which is especially challenging in con‑
vergent media environments.