Identity-centered media choices: Between strategic opportunities and regulatory constraints

Was cultural and linguistic isolationism in Belgian media unavoidable? What were the legislator’s intentions when it defined the national audio-visual framework? How did those intentions translate into real action? Looking back over the major legislative, technical and strategic choices made in the past few decades, this article shows that the legislator was driven by the will to take advantage of new technologies (to better serve cultural communities). However, this resulted in increased isolationism instead of providing the audience with more freedom of choice.