Slovak Discussions about Media: An Analysis of the Discussants' Normativity

Abstract

There have been a number of organised discussions about the media in Slovakia in recent times. This study analyses them to find answers to several research questions. One question is: who took part in the discussions about the media in the period this analysis focused on in 2018? Interviews with the organisers of these discussions offered a partial answer to the question of what kind of discursive strategies they used in determining the hegemonic discourse that emerges from these discussions. The article's theoretical starting point is Foucault's question about 'Who is speaking?' as an important element of the archaeology of knowledge. The analysis was conducted by counting the frequency of public normative official affiliations the guests and moderators had in the discussions and performing a qualitative content analysis of the interviews carried out with the organisers. The analysis revealed that most of the participants were politically centrist subjects from centrist parties, the liberal and conservative media, and non-governmental organisations critical of the extremes in the media landscape. The discursive strategies analysed included procedures of exclusion based on the distinction between reason and madness, media routine, and the valuing of objectivity and respect toward the deceased over balance. However, balance is still an acknowledged value and could become the basis for more plural discussions, given that the respondents claimed that they have no problem with differences of opinion.