<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>In this article, I discuss how the world's smallest states, including Iceland, are routinely absent in research and comparative studies concerning media and politics. Size has up until now mostly been ignored as a possible factor in understanding media systems and the relationship between media and politics on the national level. Existing research from other academic fields, such as public administration and economics, has revealed an important finding: small states have unique characteristics that differentiate them from larger states. They can therefore not simply be viewed as smaller versions of large states that have been central in knowledge production. Arguably, a Nordic perspective in media research needs to incorporate the size variable into the research agenda. This article illustrates how this expanded agenda will enrich our understanding of media and politics in the Nordic countries and open up new areas of study on small and large states more generally.</p>
</abstract>

In this article, I discuss how the world's smallest states, including Iceland, are routinely absent in research and comparative studies concerning media and politics. Size has up until now mostly been ignored as a possible factor in understanding media systems and the relationship between media and politics on the national level. Existing research from other academic fields, such as public administration and economics, has revealed an important finding: small states have unique characteristics that differentiate them from larger states. They can therefore not simply be viewed as smaller versions of large states that have been central in knowledge production. Arguably, a Nordic perspective in media research needs to incorporate the size variable into the research agenda. This article illustrates how this expanded agenda will enrich our understanding of media and politics in the Nordic countries and open up new areas of study on small and large states more generally.

Factoring Size into the Equation: Media studies, politics, and small states

Nordic Journal of Media Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Factoring Size into the Equation: Media studies, politics, and small states"}

In this article, I discuss how the world's smallest states, including Iceland, are routinely absent in research and comparative studies concerning media and...

Factoring Size into the Equation: Media studies, politics, and small states

Published Online: Jun 07, 2020

Page range: 145 - 156

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2020-0013

Keywords
Small states, Iceland, media, politics, political communication

© 2020 Jón Gunnar Ólafsson, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Factoring Size into the Equation: Media studies, politics, and small states

Published Online: Jun 07, 2020

Page range: 145 - 156

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2020-0013

KeywordsSmall states, Iceland, media, politics, political communication

© 2020 Jón Gunnar Ólafsson, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Small states, Iceland, media, politics, political communication