Wolfgang Schulz is professor of law and director of the Hans Bredow Institute at the University of Hamburg.Peggy Valcke is research professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and teaches media law at the Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel.Kristina Irion is assistant professor in the Department of Public Policy and research director in public policy at the Centre for Media and Communications Studies at the Central European University in Budapest.

• Preface – Karol JakubowiczIntroduction: Structural interconnection of free media and independent regulators Chapter 1: Approaches to independence – Wolfgang SchulzPart I: Assessing the independence of regulatory bodies within the audiovisual media sector Chapter 2: Delegation to independent regulatory authorities in the media sector: A paradigm shift through the lens of regulatory theory – Kristina Irion and Roxana RaduChapter 3: Independent media regulators: Condition sine qua non for freedom of expression? – Peggy Valcke, Dirk Voorhoof and Eva LievensChapter 4: Media regulatory authorities in the EU context: Comparing sector-specific notions and requirements of independence – David StevensChapter 5: Locating a regulator in the governance structure: A theoretical framework for the operationalization of independence – Stephan DreyerChapter 6: Measuring independence: Approaches, limitations, and a new ranking tool – Kristina Irion and Michele LedgerPart II: Media systems and the culture of independenceChapter 7: Independence or balance of dependencies? Critical remarks on studying conditions of media regulators and public service media in Poland – Beata KlimkiewiczChapter 8: The independence of media regulatory authorities and the impact of the socio-political context: A comparative analysis of Greece and Italy – Evangelia Psychogiopoulou, Federica Casarosa and Anna KandylaChapter 9: Does the complexity of institutional structures in federal states influence the independence of AVM regulatory authorities? A review of the cases of Germany and Belgium – Pierre-François Docquir, Sebastian Müller and Christoph GusyChapter 10: The independence of media regulatory authorities in Finland and the UK: An assessment – Rachael Craufurd Smith, Epp Lauk, Yolande Stolte and Heikki KuuttiChapter 11: Independence through intervention? International intervention and the independence of the Communications Regulatory Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Tarik JusićChapter 12: Concluding chapter: Independence in context – Wolfgang Schulz

'Provides a solid survey of European practices and organisations, and how they are changing amidst the media technological revolution'