European Commission Public consultation on ‘Media Pluralism and Democracy' - Opportunities

In the frame of the 2016 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights, the European Commission opens a public consultation on ‘Media Pluralism and Democracy'

Call for Policy Papers: Audiovisual Media Services within the Digital Single Market - Opportunities

The LSE Media Policy Project and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) opened the call for policy papers for the conference on "Audiovisual Media Services within the Digital Single Market", to be held on 14-15 June 2016 in Brussels

Curbing Media, Crippling Debate: Soft Censorship in Bulgaria - Reports

Based on a series of interviews with journalists and media experts from Bulgaria, this report provides an overview of soft censorship in Bulgaria and suggests actions to reverse this trend

MEDIADEM - Stakeholders

MEDIADEM was a European research project lasted from April 2010 to March 2013 focusing on the factors that promote or conversely prevent the development of policies supporting free and independent media.

The project combined a country-based study in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the UK with a comparative analysis across media sectors and various types of media services. It investigated the configuration of media policies in the aforementioned countries and examined the opportunities and challenges generated by new media services for media freedom and independence. Moreover, external pressures on the design and implementation of state media policies, stemming from the European Union and the Council of Europe, are thoroughly discussed and analysed.

The coordinator of the project has been the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.

European Audiovisual Observatory - Stakeholders

The European Audiovisual Observatory is a public service organisation, part of the Council of Europe.

The Observatory was created in 1992 to collect and distribute information about the audiovisual industries in Europe, with the aim to promote greater transparency. The work of the Observatory focuses on the following fields: Film, Broadcasting, Home video, On-demand audiovisual services and Public policy on the audiovisual sector. The Observatory provides information from an economic and legal point of view on audiovisual markets in Europe and their financing. It also analyses and reports on the legal issues affecting the different sectors of the audiovisual industry.

The Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory (IRIS) reports monthly on the most important legal developments for the audiovisual industry in 39 European countries.

The Observatory also provides access to free on-line databases, such as AVMS Database on the transposition of the AVMS directive into national legislation, IRIS Merlin on legal information on the audiovisual sector in Europe, KORDA on funding for film and audiovisual works, Lumiere on admissions of films released in Europe and MAVISE on TV services in Europe.

New Wikipedia page created: Media freedom in the European Union - Wikipedia Item

The new Wikipedia article "Media freedom in the European Union" has been created in February 2016

Russian surveillance law - Legal Resources

In a case related to alleged mobile phone surveillance, the European Court of Human Rights decided that an editor in Russia was entitled to claim to be a victim of a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom - Stakeholders

The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) is a project co-financed by the European Union in the framework of the European Commission’s on-going effort to improve the protection of media pluralism and media freedom in Europe.

The Centre is headed by Professor Pier Luigi Parcu and its residential team  is composed of experts in the following areas: legal studies, new media policies, media markets and economics,  political science and political communications. It is also supported by a Group of Experts. The centre headquarters are in Fiesole (Florence). 

The aim of the EUI Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is to enhance the awareness of the importance of freedom and pluralism of the media, to contribute to its protection and promotion and to develop new ideas among academics, policy makers, regulators, market stakeholders, journalists, and all other directly involved professionals who take part in the public debate.

The Centre carries out four specific activities:

• Research
• Debate
• Training
• Dissemination of results and outcomes

Europe’s journalists subjected to increasing levels of harassment Friday 22 January 2016 - Infographic

European_policies_and_legislation Italy Turkey

Understanding the EU Rule of Law mechanisms - Reports

This briefing by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) conveys fundamental information about the “Rule of Law Framework”, the EU assessment mechanism applied for the first time in Poland with regard to the management of state TV and radio broadcasters