A definition of pluralism in the media sector. Comparing the results of the European projects with an interdisciplinary approach Evangelia Psychogiopoulou and Federica Casarosa Florence, 27-28/4/2012. More info at: http://cmpf.eui.eu/events/definition-of-pluralism.aspx

1. European Media Policies Revisited: Valuing &
Reclaiming Free and Independent Media in
Contemporary Democratic Systems
(MEDIADEM)
A definition of pluralism in the media sector. Comparing
the results of the European projects with an
interdisciplinary approach
Evangelia Psychogiopoulou and Federica Casarosa
Florence, 27-28/4/2012

2. Mediadem
 MEDIADEM is a European research project on media
policies for free and independent media.
 The project examines the configuration of state media policies that target or
conversely constrain the development of free and independent media.
 12 EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the UK) and 2 EU candidate
countries (Croatia and Turkey).
 Analysis across media sectors and various types of media services, including
‘new’ media services.
 Domestic socio-political context and external regulatory pressures (EU, Council
of Europe).
 Project duration: April 2010-March 2013

3. The consortium
 The project is an interdisciplinary effort of 14 institutional partners:
 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium, Pierre-François Doquir)
 Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS, Bulgaria, Daniel Smilov)
 Institute for International Relations (IMO, Croatia, Nada Švob-Đokić )
 University of Copenhagen (UCPH, Denmark, Henrik Søndergaard )
 University of Tartu (UT, Estonia, Halliki Harro-Loit)
 University of Jyväskylä (JYU, Finland, Heikki Kuutti)
 University of Bielefeld (UNIBI, Germany, Christoph Gusy )
 Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP, Greece, Evangelia Psychogiopoulou).
 European University Institute (EUI, Italy, Fabrizio Cafaggi)
 Hertie School of Governance (HERTIE, Germany/Romania, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi)
 School of Communication and Media (SKAMBA, Slovakia, Andrej Skolkay)
 University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM, Spain, Susana de la Sierra)
 Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV, Turkey, Dilek Kurban)
 University of Edinburgh (UEDIN, UK, Rachael Craufurd Smith).
 The research team includes lawyers, political scientists, experts in media and journalism
studies and sociologists.

4. Research questions
 Questions
 How are media policies formulated?
 How are media policies implemented?
 What factors contribute to the formulation and implementation of
media policies?
 Do the policies conducted promote free and independent media?
 What are ‘free and independent’ media?
 What policy processes and regulatory tools can promote free and
independent media?

5. Scope of media policy
 Despite variation in analysis and points of theoretical departure, media policy is
generally concerned with the conduct of media systems:
 Organisation of the media market
 Promotion of particular types of media behaviour
 MEDIADEM research: interested in the performance of the media as agents of
information and debate that facilitate public discourse in a functioning of
democracy.
 From this perspective, media policy is understood as the whole range of policy
approaches, strategies and tools that are employed to shape the media in a way
that promotes their role as facilitators and carriers of public discourse.
 Focus on the media’s role of mediating the public, including on how the media’s role as
such is transformed by new technological advancements.
 Less concerned with other functions of the media, such as entertainment or private
communication.

6. Media policy-making
 MEDIADEM:
 Presumes that media policy-making is not a disinterested process.
Rules and norms are not adopted and applied through bureaucratic,
technical procedures.
 Adopts an institutionalist perspective focused on the contribution of
the various policy actors in policy formulation and implementation.
Focus on intermediate-level institutions (i.e. policy networks
linking economic groups to the state bureaucracy, party structures,
corporatist arrangements, etc) and their strategic interactions.
 Type of analysis: particularly appropriate given the substantial increase
in the number of policy participants, the venues in which decisions are
made and the processes through which decisions are taken.

7. Media policy-making
 Actors: next to governmental bodies and state ministries, independent
regulatory authorities, private corporations, media and journalists’
associations, trade unions, civil society organisations working in the field of
human rights but also individuals with an interest in the areas and topics dealt
with (media professionals, scholars, etc) seek to affect policy.
 National and European Courts: judicial decisions can have a substantial influence in
supporting or challenging decisions made by policy-makers, as well as in promoting
or conversely undermining the implementation and enforcement of particular laws.
 Venues: State based institutional arrangements (more or less centralised) are
supplemented by supranational settings (CoE, EU) affecting the configuration
of national media policies.
 Processes through which media policies are shaped: processes of state
regulation, co-regulation and self-regulation.

8. Media freedom and independence
 Focus of the research: state media policies that target or conversely undermine
free and independent media
 Media freedom: a corollary to foe and the right to seek, receive and impart
information
 Art. 10 ECHR
 Negative duty of non-interference (guarantees against state censorship
and control)
 Positive duty to create an enabling environment for the exercise of the foe
and the right to information
 Media freedom and pluralism
 Art. 11 EU Charter
 Overlapping regulatory strategies
 Diversity of media outlets and diversity of media content

9. Media freedom and independence
 Media independence
 Private forms of constraint on the media can also be problematic
 Ownership (use of media outlets to further specific political, economic or
other interests)
 Finance (public/private: can create a sense of loyalty to those providing the funding
and can affect coverage)
 Need for constant access to information (those that possess information
or control access to it can exert a significant influence on what is reported,
when and in what way)
 Working definition: Media are independent if they are in a position to meet the
normative requirements that they are expected to fulfil in a specific democratic
society
 in particular, to act as an agent of information and debate that facilitate the functioning
of democracy.

10. Work plan
 Phase 1: State of the art (completed, October 2010)
 Collection of background information on the 14 media policies and landscapes under
study; the media-related action of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
 Reaching a common understanding on key concepts upon which the project is founded
(e.g. ‘media policy’, ‘media freedom and independence’).
 Phase 2: Case-studies (completed, December 2011)
 Empirical research in the 14 countries under study:
 Investigation of media policy tools and the processes through which the rules are applied,
monitored and enforced
 State regulation, co-regulation, self-regulation
 Traditional media and new media services.
 Methodology: desk research (primary & secondary sources) and semi-structured interviews
with domestic actors involved in media policy making and implementation.

11. Phase 2: Case-studies
Research topics
 Mapping of policy actors and their values
 Is freedom of expression and freedom of information an overarching principle?
 Structure of the media market
 Ownership structures; competition analysis; licensing; financing (through subsidies, public advertising, etc) or other
state support tools; public service media (governance/financing): do the policies conducted promote/constrain
market entry and the ability of the media outlets to fulfill their purpose?
 Diversification of media content
 Content requirements promoting diversity of views and opinions; impartiality/accuracy, rules countering pressures on
media content; access to information legislation; rules imposing constraints on what the media can publish: do the
policies conducted allow the media to fulfil their purpose?
 Specific attention to courts and independent regulatory authorities.
 The journalistic profession
 Dependencies between journalists and political actors, media owners, supervisors; working conditions;
impact of technological developments, journalists’ unionisation and ability to uphold their interests as a
distinct professional group; formulation and implementation of self-regulatory norms/uptake of journalistic
standards.
 Media literacy
 Does it form a core part of domestic media policies?
 Is it linked to freedom of expression/the right to be informed (empowering media citizens to
demand/contribute to media freedom)?

12. Work plan
 Phase 3: Comparative analysis (Ongoing, to be finalised in June 2012)
 Cross-state and cross-media comparative report which will explain variable patterns of
media policy-making and regulation to the benefit/detriment of media freedom and
independence. The analysis will cover the following thematic areas:
 The independence of public service media in Europe.
 Media policy strategies of the MEDIADEM countries from central and eastern Europe and their
implications for media freedom and independence.
 Media policy strategies pertaining to new media services and their implications for media
freedom and independence.
 Journalists’ professional autonomy as a factor supportive of freedom of expression and the
right to information.
 Domestic and European courts and their contribution to the protection of media freedom.
 Report on media freedom and independence: The regulatory quest for legitimacy,
effectiveness, quality and enforcement.

13. Work plan
 Phase 4: Policy development (Ongoing, to be finalised in
September 2012)
 Formulation of concrete policy recommendations for state and non-
state actors involved in media policy-making, the European Union and
the Council of Europe for the promotion of free and independent
media

14. More information & links
 Project website: www.mediadem.eliamep.gr
 Follow MEDIADEM on twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/MEDIADEM
 Scientific coordination: Dr Evangelia Psychogiopoulou,
epsychogiopoulou@eliamep.gr

15. Thank you!