The Handbook of European Communication History fills a gap in the literature and provides a coherent and chronological history of mass media, public communication and journalism in Europe from 1900 to the late 20th century. With contributions from teams of scholars and members of the European Communication Research and Education Association, the Handbook explores media innovations, major changes and developments in the media systems that affected public communication, as well as societies and culture. The contributors also examine the general trends of communication history and review debates related to media development. 

To ensure a transnational approach to the topic, the majority of chapters are written not by a single author but by international teams formed around one or more lead authors. The Handbook goes beyond national perspectives and provides a basis for more cross-national treatments of historical developments in the field of mediated communication. This Handbook:

• Offers fresh insights on the development of media alongside key differences between countries, regions, or media systems over the past century
• Takes a fresh, cross-national approach to European media history
• Contains contributions from leading international scholars in this rapidly evolving area of study
• Explores the major innovations, key developments, differing trends, and the important debates concerning the media in the European setting

Written for students and academics of communication and media studies as well as media professionals, The Handbook of European Communication History covers European media from 1900 with the emergence of the popular press to the professionalization of journalists and the first wave of multimedia with the advent of film and radio broadcasting through the rapid growth of the Internet and digital media since the late 20th century.

Introduction: European Communication History as challenging but worthwhile project
Paschal Preston, Klaus Arnold, Susanne Kinnebrock

1 Struggles over 'Press Freedom' and 'Public Spheres': Competing Conceptualizations, Values, Norms
Jürgen Wilke, Jaume Guillamet, Svennik Høyer and Nils E Øy

2 The ‘New’ Newspapers: The Popular Press in Britain, Portugal, Russia and Germany, late-1800s to Early-1900s
Anthony Cawley, Helena Lima, Olga Kruglikova and Thomas Birkner

3 European Film since the 1890s: A Media Sector in the Shadow of Hollywood

Roderick Flynn

4 Organizing a New Medium: the Emergence of Radio Broadcasting in Europe
Klaus Arnold, Barbara Köpplová, Jan Cebe and Nelson Ribeiro

5 The First World War and The Emergence of Modern Propaganda
Nelson Ribeiro, Anne Schmidt, Sian Nicholas, Olga Kruglikova and Koenraad Du Pont

6 Modernization, Democratization and Politicization: Mass Media in 1920s Europe
Jochen Hung, Mark Hampton, Peppino Ortoleva, Joris van Eijnatten and Lennart Weibull

7 Crises, Rise of Fascism and the Establishment of Authoritarian Media Systems
Patrick Merziger, Gabriele Balbi, Carlos Barrera, and Balázs Sipos

8 The Russian Revolution and the Establishment of the Authoritarian Media System
Olga Kruglikova, and Konstantin Alexeev

9 International Radio Broadcasting during World War II
Nelson Ribeiro, Hans-Ulrich Wagner and Agnieszka Morriss

10 Media after 1945: Continuities and New Beginnings
Hans-Ulrich Wagner, Hugh Chignell, Marie Cronqvist, Christoph Hilgert and Kristin Skoog

11 Media and the Cold War: The East/West Conflict
Michael Meyen, Kaarle Nordenstreng, Carlos Barrera and Walery Pisarek 

12 Authoritarian Media Control in Eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal and Greece After World War II
Anke Fiedler, Helena Lima, Emmanuel Heretakis, Balázs Sipos, Juan Antonio García Galindo and Antonio Cuartero

13 Rise of Television: Institutionalization and the Forming of National Audiences
Andreas Fickers, Dana Mustata and Anne-Katrin Weber

14 The Introduction of Commercial Broadcasting to Europe
Rosa Franquet, Guisseppe Richeri and Matthew Hibberd

15 History of the Media in Central and Eastern Europe
Péter Bajomi-Lázár, Auksė Balčytienė, Alina Dobreva and Beata Klimkiewicz

16 Media Concentration and the Rise of Multinational Companies
Juan P Artero, Roderick Flynn and Damian Guzek

17 EU Democratic Deficits: The EU Project and a European Public Sphere
Katharine Sarikakis and Olga Kolokytha

18 The Emergence of the Internet and the End of Journalism?
Christian Oggolder, Niels Brügger, Monika Metykova, Ramón Salaverría and Eugenia Siapera 

19 Professionalisms and Journalism History: Lessons from European variations
Risto Kunelius, Olivier Baisnée and Sergio Splendore

20 The Development of Journalism Education in Europe
Carlos Barrera and Michael Harnischmacher

21 New Media and Audience Behavior
Susanne Eichner, Yeşim Kaptan, Elizabeth Prommer and Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens

22 Americanization, or: the Rhetoric of Modernity How European Journalism Adapted US Norms, Practices and Conventions
Marcel Broersma

23 Gender, Media and Modernity
Adrian Bingham, Matilde Eiroa, Susanne Kinnebrock and Claire McCallum 

24 Ethnic Minorities and the Media – A Struggle for Voice, Self and Community?
Christian Schwarzenegger, Gabriele Falböck, Merja Ellefson, Irati Agirreazkuenaga, Alicia Ferrández Ferrer, Heike Graf and Marina Yanglyaeva

25 Imagined New Spaces of Political Solidarity in the 1880s-1920s: Beyond the National?
Paschal Preston