Res je, da je bila večini držav skupna komunistična oz. socialistična družbena ureditev, a ta se je v praksi zelo razlikovala. Med državami so bile velike razlike v pravni ureditvi, imele so različne medijske sisteme in na koncu različno novo oblast, ta pa ni bila pripravljena enako hitro demokratizirati medije.
However, while it is true that the vast majority of these countries shared a communist or socialist past, their social systems were radically different in practice, as were their legal and media systems, and ultimately, their new governments and the pace of media democratisation.