| Popis: |
This chapter focuses on the High Independent Authority for Audiovisual Communication (known as the HAICA), a transitional body in charge of regulating the Tunisian audiovisual sector. The study offers a critical analysis of audiovisual regulation in post-revolutionary Tunisia, and pinpoints the less than democratic dimension associated with this transitional body. The legitimacy of the HAICA rests on its independence and neutrality, which were largely undermined by business and political interests shaping and defining the media sector. From the outset, the objective was not so much to nurture a regulatory body that could help align the media system during the country's transition with democratic norms than to serve business and political interests. The inability to preserve the autonomy of the media field from political interference resulted in what Hallin and Mancini call a polarized pluralistic political-media system. The dynamics have implications not only on the country's evolving media sector but on the prospects of democratic governance and, in fact, on the future of Tunisia's democratic transition as a whole. |
