"Transplantation" of the model is something characteristic for the normative approach in media reforms, and places the focus on the adoption of Western standards and principles of functioning of independent, professional media institutions, and also on the form of such institutional solutions. However, it neglects the local context and specifics of the countries in which the processes of democratization are taking place. The results of such normative approach are inadequate media policies and often dysfunctional legal and institutional solutions, leading to creation of institutions which do not develop as expected, that is, by following the example of countries from which such solutions are taken, nor do they entirely function within their new context.
Understanding the problems arising from the normative approach and transplantation of Western institutional models in countries in transition is not only important in the context of the democratization of the media sector, but may help in understanding the processes of adopting public policies through programs of international assistance in other sectors in which similar way of initiating and implementing reforms are undertaken. This text summarizes experiences of the normative approach in six Western Balkans countries - Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia.