Purpose: To discuss the latest findings of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM2017) and a roundtable discussion with scholars, experts and stakeholders on defining indicators for measuring digital-related threats to media pluralism.

 

The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a holistic tool to assess the risks to media pluralism in a given country. It is based on a set of twenty indicators covering a broad notion of media pluralism that encompasses political, cultural, geographical, structural and content-related dimensions. The risks for media pluralism are measured in four different areas: Basic Protection, Market Plurality, Political Independence and Social Inclusiveness. The indicators cover legal, economic and socio-political questions.

 

In 2017, the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom carried out the EU-wide implementation of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM2017). The MPM2017 also covers three candidate countries (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM), Serbia and Turkey).

 

The results of the MPM2017 monitoring exercise generally confirm the highlights of the previous rounds of the MPM’s implementation (see http://cmpf.eui.eu/media-pluralism-monitor/): none of the analysed countries is free from risks to media pluralism. The latest findings show either a stagnation or a deterioration in all of the four major areas covered by the MPM, and an increase in risk for the area of Basic protection is a particular source of concern.

In addition to the “traditional” sources of risks to media pluralism, the contemporary digital environment brings challenges. The growing dominance of a few digital intermediaries and social platforms strongly affects the news business, news distribution and audience habits. Algorithms, artificial intelligence and automation are already applied in many aspects of information production and distribution. It has opened a Pandora’s Box of opportunities, but also threats such as spread of online disinformation and hate speech, (mis-)use of personal data for targeted information, political advertising, non-transparent content moderation, net neutrality violations, to name a few.

 

In keeping with the event’s name “between old risks and new threats”, we will first present and discuss the latest findings of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM2017). Second, an afternoon roundtable discussion featuring scholars, experts, stakeholders and policy-makers from around Europe, will draw our attention to more recent digital-related challenges in an effort to define potential indicators to be measured, using the risk-based logic of the Media Pluralism Monitor.

CMPF staff, including director Pier Luigi Parcu, scientific coordinator Elda Brogi and researchers Iva Nenadic and Mario Viola de Azevedo Cunha will present the results of the 2017 Media Pluralism Monitor.

The MPM project is co-funded by the European Union.