MEDIADEM consortium meets in Jyväskylä

MEDIADEM researchers traveled to Jyväskylä, Finland, for the fifth meeting of the project, held on 15-16 June 2012. The meeting was hosted by the Department of Communication of the University of Jyväskylä. The first day of the meeting was devoted to the presentation of the findings of the comparative reports which are based on the project’s empirical research for each country case. The discussion that followed offered insights for the fine-tuning of the reports, expected later in the summer 2012. On the second day, research teams presented some key media policy recommendations for the development of free and independent media in their country which is the next item in the research agenda. Emphasis was put, among others, on the importance of norms that guarantee transparency in media policy-making, the independence of media regulatory authorities and that of public service media. Due attention was also afforded to the project’s future dissemination activities, and the means to employ in order to reach out to the broader media policy community. The next, and final, meeting of the project will take place in Brussels in February 2012.