Comparing Media Systems

Contact

Debora Cheney
Larry and Ellen Foster Communications Librarian, and, Head, Library Services to the World Campus/Penn State Online
814-863-1345

or Your Campus Librarian

Related Guides

News Media Trends

News & Newspaper Sources

Mass Media Global Comparisons

News Media Ethics Sources

International Economics

International Statistics and Data

Scholarly Journals/Databases

Scholarly Journals/Research Databases

ABI/Inform Complete
- Database of scholarly journals, trade magazines, and other periodicals and business news sources, primarily U.S.-focused
- Good source for current business news and analysis of media companies and industry trends from trade publications
- Search for entities ("MTV Asia") or topics ("media ethics")
Communication & Mass Media Complete
- Comprehensive resource of scholarly journals and other periodicals related to communications and mass media, most containing full-text articles
- Good source of information on communication issues on a worldwide scale, from a variety of publishers, research institutions and sources
- Directs users to location of full-text articles, or prompts for articles that can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan
Business Source Premier
- Articles from peer-reviewed journals, trade and industry magazines, market research reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry reports, country information
Academic Search Complete
- Multi-disciplinary database with full-text periodicals, trade publications and peer-reviewed journals
- Includes monographs (books), reports, and conference proceedings
- Many articles in PDF format
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- Articles on news media, press freedom, media controls, etc. in political and scholarly journals

International Organizations and Summits

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
- Key in a search term like "press censorship" for a list of full-text sources on that topic
International Telecommunications Union
- Country case studies and publishes reports on media systems, Internet policy, background information, analysis and description of models or strategies employed by a country (2000-2004)
  - Downloadable PDF files on their website by country and topic
- Some reports are owned as print volumes by the Penn State University Libraries. Search the CAT for more information
- Wide range of comparative data reports available:
  - Yearbook of statistics : Telecommunication Services (1998-2008, print)
  - Measuring the Information Society : ICT Opportunity Index and World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (2007, print)
    - Also available as World Telecommunication Indicators Database (CD-ROM: 2007, 2008, 2010)
    - Provides measures across 183 countries; helps measure information and communication technologies (ICTs) education and skills, uptake and intensity of the use of ICT
    - Economies are grouped into four categories, ranging from high to low ICT Opportunities
    - Highlights relative movements over historical time periods
    - Comparison of annual average growth rates shows which countries are making progress and how fast
OECD iLibrary
- An example of one book is Telecoms Infrastructure to 2030 (2006, ebook)
- Country Statistical Profile: Key Tables from OECD (most recent 8 time periods) includes a wide range of indicators: information and communication, economy, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health, labour, migration, R&D, trade and society
- Includes annual reports such as OECD Communications Outlook (2011, ebook)
  - Chapter on broadcasting services
  - Statistics on trends in media usage, convergence, digital television, etc.
  - Examines major changes and future trends in the telecommunications industry
  - Explores developments in Internet, broadcasting, and cable television
World Bank e-Library
- Includes many titles on communications, some focusing on country-specific topics, others on regional and global issues
- Disable pop-up blocker to read e-books
World Summit on the Information Society (2003, 2005, 2009)
- Goals: To develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake
- Reports and Summit documents contain information on television, Internet, PC penetration, legal and regulatory frameworks for countries and regions

Top

A Country's Press/Media

PSU Databases

Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications (ScienceDirect)
- Search by subject or country
- Country overview includes political structure, media ownership
- Limited statistics available
Passport GMID (Euromonitor)
- Tip: From the "Countries and Consumers" tab, choose "Technology, Communications and Media," where categories include:
  - Cinema and Film
  - Computers and Internet
  - Media Access and Advertising
  - Telecommunications
- International demographic, macro-economic, and marketing data
- Industry statistics, company and brand rankings, emerging industries and trends, and consumer lifestyle statistics
World Press Encyclopedia (Gale, 2003)
- Overview of the press by country
- Information on political and economic framework, press laws and censorship
- For print edition, check the CAT
The Handbook of Global Communication and Media Ethics, Volume I, Volume II (Wiley, 2011)
- Contains case studies on reporting, censorship, responsibility, terrorism, disenfranchisement, and guilt throughout many countries and regions worldwide
- Examines important themes in communication ethics

Online Source

Freedom of the Press: A Global Survey of Media Independence
- Annual short reports on the state of press freedom in 193 countries
- Map of Press Freedom
- Legal, political, and economic environment analyzed for each country; numerical scores assigned to each of these indicators with high scores indicating limited or no press freedom

Print Resources

Yearbook of Asia-Pacific Telecommunications (2003)
- Insight into the region and its players
- Commentary on the regulatory and political developments affecting the communications industry as a whole in 15 Asia-Pacific countries
- Provides detailed profiles covering 15 countries and 26 companies
Yearbook (European Audiovisual Observatory) (2002)
- 5 volume series
  - Volume 1: Economy of the radio and TV industry in Europe
  - Volume 2: Household AV equipment, television audience, and transmission statistics
  - Volume 3: Film and home video statistics
  - Volume 4: Multimedia and new technologies
  - Volume 5: Television channels, production, and distribution
Handbook of the Media in Asia (2000)
- Describes how the media sector operates within the political, legal, and financial framework of Asian countries
- Industry structure, mass media penetration, and ownership
- Statistics on key industry indicators including ad revenue and circulation

Specific Country Information

Country Profiles (BBC)
- Each profile includes a section on the media
Measuring the Information Society (2011)
- ITU publication
- Level of advancement & use of ICT services (Information & Communication Technology) in 165 economies
- Features the latest ICT Development Index (IDI) and ICT Price Basket (IPB)
Nordicom
- Comprehensive information on the Nordic media market (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)
- Comparative Nordic Media Statistics
- Nordic Media Policy (semi-annual newsletter)

Additional Information Country Information and Data Sources

News Sources

Databases

LexisNexis Academic - News Sources [Text Content Only]
- News coverage from US and international publications
- Useful tool to compare how news events are covered by different media outlets
Factiva (Dow Jones) [Text Content Only]
- Global, full-text information resource with daily update
- Within industry, search media and/or telecommunications
- Restrict by region or country
- We have a limited number of user seats for this database. Please select the logout option before you leave your session.
Access World News (Newsbank)[Text Content; Limited Streaming Video]
- Search by global region, country, publication title
- Full-text articles from US national and regional newspapers
- Some video and web only content
PressDisplay [full-page reproduction] -- 10 concurrent users
- Access to newspapers from within the library, from home and around the world on the day they are published
- Includes traditional 2-page newspaper view, table of contents, article jumps (linking article sections) and easy to read text views
- Translations into ten major foreign languages

Additional News & Newspaper Sources

Company/Industry Information Resources

Databases

Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
- Includes regional global industry surveys in the areas of broadcasting, cable, publishing, and telecommunications
- Good source for media statistics, information on key regional players in the media industry, and advertising spending by country (including projections and analysis)
- Valuable source for company news and data with up-to-date information