MEDIADEM is a European research project on media policy-making processes in EU member states and candidate countries. Its purpose is to identify which policy processes, tools and instruments can best support the development of free and independent media. It is funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme and it is coordinated by the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. The project started on April 1st, 2010 and will last for three years.

The third MEDIADEM policy brief is devoted to the role of the EU and the Council of Europe in supporting media freedom and independence. Drawing on the research that was carried out throughout the duration of the MEDIADEM project, this policy brief provides a succinct overview of key areas of concern in relation to the development of policies that create an enabling environment for media freedom and independence, identifying key pressures on the operation of free and independent media. More »

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) co-organised the final conference of the MEDIADEM project on ‘Media freedom and independence: Trends and challenges in Europe’. The conference took place on 7 February 2013 in Brussels. It was hosted by the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union. More »

MEDIADEM researchers met in Brussels on 8 February 2013 for the final consortium meeting of the project. The meeting was organised and hosted by Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). It served to discuss the project’s progress in terms of research and dissemination activity and to assess the contribution of the project to science and policy, among others. More »

Credits: kmardahl/ Creative commons

The increasing role of electronic media in news and, more generally, in content production is changing the scope and boundaries of the journalism profession and the instruments deployed to regulate the activity. Historically, journalism has primarily been self-regulated. The limits of public legislation, mainly driven by the constitutional constraints posed by the freedom of expression, have created different models of national private regulatory regimes across Europe. Media regulation is a multilevel architecture and national legal systems still play a primary role in designing rules concerning news production. More »

The University of Edinburgh held a workshop on 7 January 2013 on the future of the media in Scotland. The workshop considered the issues that arise from operating media in a devolved country, as well as possible consequences for the media should Scotland vote in favour of independence in the upcoming referendum in 2014. The workshop brought together academics, students, policy makers and politicians. More »