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The field has been characterized by enormous expansion and diversification with abundance and popularity not resulting in integration. This contribution ­considers the roots of the discipline to be very long leading back to the enlightenment, early democracy and diverse international sources such as the first freedom of ­information bill in Sweden's Diet in 1766 and the nineteenth century as Hardt (2001) details.Academically the field is something of a sunrise industry comparable even to computer science and biotechnology as Web of Science data (Nordenstreng, 2015) indicates with exponential growth notable from the 1990s. Dramatic increases in publications, students and the blossoming of associations has followed. Dominated by US/English language research, diversification has been felt in approach and focus (Koivisto and Thomas, 2010). Looking back to an earlier phase concerned with modernization is however instructive for example Lerner (1958) or the comments and debate surrounding Berelson (1959). Currently, extremely dispersed ­communication studies is characterized by presentism with gaps such as the absence of national histories of communication research very apparent.Reporting Denis McQuail's thoughts on the conference's headings this ­contribution suggests that traditions of inquiry from social science and literary/cultural studies have not been 'resolved or got together' (Nordenstreng, 2015).

A rejoinder to SA 0828/D9422 which advocated a more 'psychol'al' approach for broadcasting. This approach is seen to have serious limitations, particularly re the diff interpretations of what is meant by increasing the satisfaction programs give to all kinds of people & the utility of the output to the public. B. P. Emmett's model is based on how individuals feel about program output & it completely neglects any broader sociol'al considerations at the macro level of society. Mass COMM necessarily introduces soc implications which cannot be tapped by simply looking at the needs of individuals-needs which to a large extent are modivied or even produced by the soc network in which the individual lives. Any model which excludes this is seriously limited & naive. Furthermore, a model which is based on the gratification of individuals is not value-free. It must inevitably work in favor of the soc status quo since the needs of individuals are formed within existing soc structures & are not uninfluenced by the media themselves. How can an individual be gratified or dissatisfied with something in which he has no previous knowledge question Emmet's model accepts the naive notion of public demand as an ultimate aim in broadcasting. In addition, the model presupposes measurement of the gratification of diff needs, & yet the present state of both need theories & techniques of measurement is far from being satisfactory for practical applications. Emmett's model is inadequate, although it is hoped that it will stimulate a new role for res in broadcasting. B. P. Emmett (British Broadcasting Corp, London, England) REPLY TO NOR DENSTRENG -points out that the difficulty in such res seems to be that the objectives which a broadcasting org sets itself cannot be unrelated to the uses to which its recipients put the material. The viewer must be prepared to cooperate. It is agreed that a more comprehensive model of the interrelationship of broadcasting & society is needed. Meanwhile Emmett will continue to press for the freedom from ratings that his model promises. M. Maxfield.

This article reviews the political history of Czechoslovakia as a vital part of the Soviet-dominated "Communist bloc" and its repercussions for the journalist associations based in the country. Following an eventful history since 1918, Czechoslovakia changed in 1948 from a liberal democracy into a Communist regime. This had significant consequences for journalists and their national union and also for the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ), which had just established its headquarters in Prague. The second historical event to shake the political system was the "Prague Spring" of 1968 and its aftermath among journalists and their unions. The third landmark was the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, which played a significant part in the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and led to the closing of the old Union of Journalists in 1990, followed by the founding of a new Syndicate which refused to serve as the host of the IOJ. This led to a gradual disintegration and the closing down of what in the 1980s was the world's largest non-governmental organization in the media field.

This editorial provides the overall context for the five cases—three national and two international—covered in this thematic issue. While the cases are from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), they highlight fundamental questions of journalism everywhere, including contradictions between freedom and control, professionalism and politics, individual and collective. The associations of journalists serve as very useful platforms to study these questions, especially at historical turning points when the whole political system changed, as happened twice in CEE after World War II.