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³³ It might be thought that this control variable is in fact be an independent variable in its own right, reflecting either the legacy of a Leninist philosophy of the press (cf. Milton, Andrew, ‘Bound but Not Gagged: Media Reform in Democratic Transitions’, Comparative Political Studies, 34 (2001), 493–526CrossRefGoogle Scholar) or turbulence related to processes of democratization. First, for all that they were under Soviet influence, it would be a mistake, however, to think that a Leninist philosophy of the press applied equally well in Poland, Estonia and Russia; or to think that stated commitments to such a philosophy were incompatible with the development of professional norms (see Curry, Jane Lefwich, Poland’s Journalists: Professionalism and Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)CrossRefGoogle Scholar). Secondly, it is not the case that democratization-related turbulence led to inflated values of TOR or VUL: of the shortest-serving executives in each of the nine post-Communist countries included in the analysis, six started as chief executive after 1999; the remaining three started between 1991 and 1994.

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⁴⁰ Therefore, it is entirely possible that the low correlation observed in previous works between de jure and de facto independence results from a mis-specification of those legal features which affect de facto independence.

⁴¹ Powers of dismissal may, of course, also be interpreted as a method of sanctioning.

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⁴⁴ In cases where the number of members was large and the methods used to appoint them divergent, I have assigned different scores for some part of the board, and averaged these scores. For example: in Italy following the passage of the 1975 reform of Rai, six members of the sixteen member administrative council were nominated by the majority shareholder (the state, coded here as the executive), whilst the remaining ten members were nominated by a parliamentary committee. The score is therefore equal to [(6 × 0.25) + (10 × 0.75)]/16.

⁴⁵ Information on legislative standing was taken from: Australia: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, as amended; Austria: 1966 Broadcasting Act; Belgium (Flemish-language community): ‘Décret relatif à la transformation de la BRTN en une société anonyme de droit public’ (29th April 1997) (French-language translation); Belgium (French language community): ‘Décret du 14 juillet 1997 portant statut de la Radio-Télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF)’; Bulgaria: The Radio and Television Law of 1998; Canada: the 1991 Broadcasting Act; Chile: law 19/132 of the 30th March 1992; Czech Republic: 483/1991 Coll., Act of the Czech National Council of 7 November 1991 on Czech Television and Metykova (2005, ch. 4); Denmark: Law no. 215 of the 11th June 1959, law no. 421 of the 15th June 1973, and law no. 374 of the 10th June 1987; Estonia: The Broadcasting Act of 1994, as amended; Finland: Act on Yleisradio Oy of 1993, as amended; France: Loi ordinaire 74-696 du 07/08/1974 relative à la radiodiffusion et télévision, loi n° 82-652 du 29 juillet 1982 sur la communication audiovisuelle; Germany: Statute of ZDF (April 1962), as amended; Hungary: Act on Radio and Television Broadcasting, act I of 19th May 1996; Israel: Israel Broadcasting Authority Law, no. 5725 – 1965; Japan: The Broadcast Law, no. 132 of 2nd May 1950, as amended; Latvia: Radio and Television Law (consolidated); Lithuania: Law on the National Radio and Television, No I-1571 of October 1996, as amended; New Zealand: The Television New Zealand Act 2003; Norway: The Broadcasting Act of 4 Dec. 1992 no. 127, as amended; Poland: The Broadcasting Act of the 29th December 1992; Portugal: the Television Broadcasting Act, Law no. 32/2003; Republic of Ireland: The Broadcasting Act, 2001; the Broadcasting Act, 1976; the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960; Romania: Law no. 41 of June 17 1994, ‘On the Organization and Operation of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation and of the Romania Television Corporation’; Slovakia: The Act on Slovak Television and Monika Metykova, ‘Regulating Public Service Broadcasting: The Cases of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ireland’ (doctoral dissertation, Masaryk University, Brno, 2005), chap. 4; Slovenia: The Law on Radio and Television of 1994; South Africa: the Broadcasting Act 1999; Sweden: Information made available by SVT; Switzerland: ‘Statuto della Società svizzera di radiotelevisione (SRG SSR idée suisse)’, of 22 November 1991, as amended; United Kingdom: Successive Royal Charters and Agreements with the BBC; United States of America: The 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, as amended.

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⁴⁸ Results from the regression without imputation did not differ significantly; they are available on request.

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