TEST: CMPF Newsletter - Novermber 2019

| MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2019 |

Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom

An update on the activities of the CMPF in 2019

State of Play - Media Pluralism Monitor 2020

The CMPF team is implementing the MPM2020 project in the EU28 and two candidate countries - Albania and Turkey - which will include updated variables for the digital age to better reflect the contemporary risks to media pluralism brought about by changes and challenges to the media environment.

Find out more about the MPM2020 project here.

MPM special report on Hungary

In July the CMPF published a report on Hungary at the request of the European Commission. The aim of the report was to assess whether the establishment of the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KözépEurópai Sajtó és Média Alapítvány, or KESMA) in Autumn 2018 amounts to an element of additional
risk for media pluralism in the country and whether this additional risk is quantifiable.

Access the report here.

Media Pluralism Monitor a priority for incoming Commission

In September the European Commission’s President-elect, Ursula Von der Leyen, penned a letter on the 10th of September 2019 instructing Věra Jourová, Vice-President-designate for Values and Transparency, to use the MPM 'to identify risks to plurality in the media sector'.

The acknowledgement was a great endorsement of the work of the CMPF and the members of all the country teams who contribute their expertise to project.

Read more on the EUI website.

Working Papers

New digital threats to media pluralism in the information age
By Pier Luigi Parcu, CMPF Director

CMPF Director Professor Pier Luigi Parcu published New threats to media pluralism in the information age arguing that threats to quality information and media pluralism essentially come from two sources: the increasing concentration of economic resources into just a few gigantic online platforms/media and the spreading of the disinformation that is favored by the available technological instruments. Focusing on the available responses, the article explores the necessity of explicit and multidimensional public policies to preserve quality news and media pluralism as public goods that are indispensable to democracy.

Access the article here.

Monitoring online media pluralism in Flanders : lessons drawn from DIAMOND SBO studies By Ingrid Lambrecht and Peggy Valcke, Catholic University of Leuven

Researchers at Centre for IT & IP Law at Catholic University of Leuven and members of the Belgian Media Pluralism Monitor country team, Ingrid Lambrecht and Peggy Vacke, kindly published a working paper, Monitoring online media pluralism in Flanders : lessons drawn from DIAMOND SBO studies. The authors suggest the development of indicators capable of measuring online media pluralism that would allow for more accurate monitoring, introducing transparency and fostering public scrutiny of the situation.

Access the working paper here.

The e-commerce directive and GDPR : towards convergence of legal regimes in the algorithmic society?
By Giovanni De Gregorio

This working paper of Giovanni De Gregorio explores how new online intermediaries such as search engines and social networks have acquired an increasingly active role in managing online contents and how their role in deciding how to process personal data has transformed these actors from data processors to controllers. The paper analyses how the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has contributed to reducing the gap between the regimes of data protection and ISP liability 9e-commerce Directive).

Access the working paper here.

Discussion Series

Australian Newspapers Redact Front Pages in Media Freedom Campaign
By Derek Wilding (Centre for Media Transition, University of Technology Sydney) and Tim Dwyer (Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney)

Some reflections on the announced Facebook Oversight Board
By Marta Maroni, Phd candidate in Constitutional Law, Faculty of law, University of Helsinki

Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek V Facebook Ireland Limited: a new layer of neutrality
By Elda Brogi, CMPF Scientific coordinator and Marta Maroni, Phd candidate in Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki

The role of National Regulatory Authorities in tackling disinformation
By Antigoni Themistokleous, Cyprus Radio and Television Authority

How UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators could help assess media pluralism in the online environment
By Adeline Hulin, UNESCO

The Social Media Councils: Bringing Content Moderation Back to the Public Forum
By Pierre François Docquir, Article 19

8th CMPF Summer School for Journalists and Media Practitioners

The 8th edition of the Summer School for Journalists and Media Practitioners was held in June. Hosted at Villa Salviati in Fiesole, the Summer School was an opportunity for people working in the field to learn about, discuss and debate some of the most important issues facing the industry. In that spirit, the focus of this year’s Summer School was Covering Political Campaigns in the age of Data, Algorithms & Artificial Intelligence.

Click here for the list of presenters, uploaded presentations and photos.

Latest Videos

We caught up with some of this year’s Summer School presenters to ask them about their work and to explain some concepts such as computational propaganda, data security and targeted political advertising. To view those videos click here and see below our interview with Samantha Bradshaw explaining how algorithms work.

What is an Algorithm? | Samantha Bradshaw

Upcoming events

Courts and Populism between Public Law and Technology - November 22- 23, Florence
Elda Brogi will give a presentation on the role of platforms in CJEU case law and EU legislation.

ERGA Academy Strategy Session - December 9, Brussels
Elda Brogi will present Media Pluralism Monitor – the next generation and meeting the challenges of an online world during a session titled, External Media Plurality.

Save the Date: CMPF Monitoring Media Pluralism Conference - January 31 2020, Florence
The CMPF will host a conference featuring the country team experts and various stakeholders to discuss the ongoing work of the MPM2020 at the European University Institute in Florence.

Annual Scientific Seminar on Innovation, Platforms and the Digital Economy - March 12 -13, Florence
The Florence School of Regulation Communications & Media (FSR C&M), Centre for Media Pluralism and Freedom (CMPF) and Florence Competition Programme (FCP) will organise jointly the Annual Scientific Seminar on Innovation, Platforms and the Digital Economy.

Events attended

First Toffee Workshop - October 25 - 26, Lucca
Elda Brogi attended the first TOFFEE workshop at IMT Lucca and participated in a roundtabe discussing policy perspectives on disinformation.

Stakeholder Meeting: Governing Platforms Project - October 8, Brussels
Iva Nenadic attended the first meeting of the Governing Platforms project organised by Algorithm Watch to discuss regulatory proposals that address the online intermediaries and their effects on public discourse.

Media and political polarization in Central and Eastern Europe: In search for research-informed media policies and practices - September 25, Budapest
Mario Viola de Azevedo Cunha attended a stakeholders meeting as part of the project The Illiberal Turn? News Consumption, Polarization and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Mario spoke on the third panel on Media Literacy/ citizen empowerment, giving a presentation on media literacy findings from the MPM 2018 report.

UNESCO Global MIL Week 2019 - September 25, Gothenburg
Iva Nenadic presented Media literacy in Europe: a comparative review of policies, educational curricula and media literacy activities at the Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2019 - Feature Conference.

Scottish Press Freedom Summit 2019 - July 19, Edinburgh
Elda Brogi, CMPF Scientific Coordinator, was a keynote speaker at the Scottish Press Freedom Summit. Elda spoke about media pluralism and ownership in Europe.

Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy, 18th session - July 10 - 12, Geneva
CMPF Director, Pier Luigi Parcu, gave a talk on digital threats to media pluralism in the information age at the UNCTAD Research Partnership Platform.

8th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures. Digital Platforms – The New Network Industries? How to regulate them? - June 20 -21, Florence
In a sessionentitled Platforms and Antitrust, Proefessor Pier Luigi Parcu presented his paper “New digital threats to media pluralism in the information age” at the annual event bringing together all the areas of the Florence School of Regulation.

Roundtable: Freedom of expression and audiovisual media services - June 17 - 19, Florence
Elda Brogi took part in the training on Freedom of expression and fight against hate speech in European and Italian law. Hosted at the Scuola Superiore della Magistrura and part of the e-NACT project.

Platforms, free speech and pluralism: Is there a role to play for media authorities? - June 14, Tunis
CMPF staff Elda Brogi, Mario Viola de Azevedo Cunha and Iva Nenadic hosted a panel with guests Xianghong Hu (UNESCO), Lubos Kuklis (ERGA) and Carlos Affonso Souza (Professor at UERJ and Director of Institute of Technology and Society in Brazil). The panel explored how media authorities should respond to the power of online platforms in determining citizens’ access to relevant and diverse information and viewpoints.

Implementation of the Council of Europe Instruments and Standards in the Field of Media and Information - May 24, 2019
CMPF Scientific Coordinator Elda Brogi spoke at the conference Implementation of the Council of Europe Instruments and Standards in the Field of Media and Information. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Serbia in partnership with the Council of Europe.

Riding or Lashing the Waves: Regulating Media for Diversity in a Time of Uncertainty - May 24, Washigton D.C
CMPF researcher Iva Nenadic presented at the conference Riding or Lashing the Waves: Regulating Media for Diversity in a Time of Uncertainty at the National Press Club in Washington on May 24. In session 2 of the conference titled ‘Media regulation and diversity in the platforms era’ Iva and Marko Milosavljevic presented Blurred Lines: Regulating beyond media to protect media pluralism.

e-NACT Workshop on the Application of the EU Charter: Freedom of Expression - May 13, Ljubljana
Scientific Director of the CMPF, Elda Brogi spoke at the e-NACT (e-learning National Active Charter Training) workshop in Ljubljana on the topic of Freedom of Expression and the Role of Internet Platforms.

The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) was established in 2011 and aims to develop innovative and relevant lines of research on media freedom and pluralism, both online and offline, in Europe and beyond, and to provide knowledge support to the international, European and national policy and rulemaking processes.

The CMPF, directed by Professor Pier Luigi Parcu, is based in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy.