This Book is a Comparative Study of Five Related themes - the roots of journalism in East/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union; the role and effects of journalism leading up to the events of 1989; journalism in the transition period from 1989 to 1996; the contributions, trials, and tribulations of journalism in the transition period; and the state of journalism education in the regions under consideration.

The ultimate goal is to identify patterns describing official and unofficial media systems during the communist period, and the role(s) and effects of communist and alternate or underground mass media and journalism both in the pre-1989 era and after the demise of the communist systems. This work seeks to discern patterns in the role(s) and effects of new media and their journalism during the post-communist transition.