This book represents a very timely, well-informed, and intelligible analysis of the troublesome development of the media system in post-Soviet Ukraine... Her emphasis on exposing informal practices and rules shaping the relationship between media and politics, as well as the explicit embeddedness of the study in the broader context of the situation in post-transition Central and Eastern Europe will make this book an original and highly valuable contribution to the study of journalism, media, and democracy in this part of the world. -- Vaclav Stetka, Loughborough University Natalya Ryabinska has written a very informative and well-timed book... By vividly describing relationships between polity, economy, and media, she progressively releases the statement that threats to media freedom, its independence, and further democratization in Ukraine stem not from a lack of appropriate legislation (i.e. formal institutions) but rather local conditions and practices shaped through a complex variety of contextually destined political and economic influences... Offers fresh insights into the rises and falls of 'daily democracy' in Ukraine. -- Aukse Balcytiene, Vytautas Magnus University at Vilnius, Lithuania This is one of the most detailed and sophisticated analyses of the Ukrainian media system. By thoroughly examining its political and economic context, Natalya Ryabinska shows why the post-communist transformation of the Ukrainian media did not lead to the establishment of an adequate tool for informing citizens and overseeing the behaviour of the authorities. As the post-Maidan Ukraine seeks to finally build a working democracy, it is important to learn from earlier failures in this endeavour. -- Volodymyr Kulyk, Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev

This book represents a very timely, well-informed, and intelligible analysis of the troublesome development of the media system in post-Soviet Ukraine... Her emphasis on exposing informal practices and rules shaping the relationship between media and politics, as well as the explicit embeddedness of the study in the broader context of the situation in post-transition Central and Eastern Europe will make this book an original and highly valuable contribution to the study of journalism, media, and democracy in this part of the world. -- Vaclav Stetka, Loughborough University Natalya Ryabinska has written a very informative and well-timed book... By vividly describing relationships between polity, economy, and media, she progressively releases the statement that threats to media freedom, its independence, and further democratization in Ukraine stem not from a lack of appropriate legislation (i.e. formal institutions) but rather local conditions and practices shaped through a complex variety of contextually destined political and economic influences... Offers fresh insights into the rises and falls of 'daily democracy' in Ukraine. -- Aukse Balcytiene, Vytautas Magnus University at Vilnius, Lithuania This is one of the most detailed and sophisticated analyses of the Ukrainian media system. By thoroughly examining its political and economic context, Natalya Ryabinska shows why the post-communist transformation of the Ukrainian media did not lead to the establishment of an adequate tool for informing citizens and overseeing the behaviour of the authorities. As the post-Maidan Ukraine seeks to finally build a working democracy, it is important to learn from earlier failures in this endeavour. -- Volodymyr Kulyk, Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev

Natalya Ryabinska is assistant professor of sociology at the Collegium Civitas at Warsaw. She has also taught at the Polish Academy of Sciences in the doctoral programs in sociology and political science. Her papers have appeared in Problems of Post-Communism, Global Media Journal, Polish Sociological Review, and Central European Journal of Communication.