MeDeMAP

Mapping Media for Future Democracies

Horizon Europe

Approval no 101094984

Start: 2023

End: 2026

To set out future-proof pathways to strengthen democracy through improving accountability, transparency and effectiveness of media production and expanding active and inclusive citizenship, the project aims to clarify the extent to which European media perform their democratic functions. By applying an innovative multi-method design the project will cover (1) perspectives of both representative and participatory notions of democracy as they exist in European societies, (2) the entire range of news media, regardless of distribution channel, ownership and source of financing, (3) the legal and (self-)regulatory framework under which media houses and journalism operate, (4) the media's potential to promote and support political participation (supply side), and (5) the media use patterns, communication needs and democratic attitudes of the audiences (demand side) in the EU Member States.

Project background

No doubt, to protect and improve trust in democratic institutions and in democracy itself and to manage the fundamental challenges facing the European Union, a plural, independent, transparent and viable media environment is needed more than ever: a media environment that ensures that a diverse range of reliable journalistic content is available and accessible to everyone irrespective of socio-economic barriers.

Purpose of the project

(1) Establishing an up-to-date overview and understanding of the state of democracy in the European Union and the roles and functions of media and journalism that can be derived from it;

(2) Mapping legal and (self-)regulatory frameworks within which media organizations and journalists operate;

(3) Mapping democratic qualities of media supply;

(4) Mapping people’s media use, information needs and users’ democratic attitudes;

(5) Mapping future pathways for building a more resilient democratic media system.

Method used

All research activities related to the completion of this project will be based on proven methodological tools and techniques, including data science methods, large-scale quantitative analyses, in-depth qualitative approaches and participatory action research. In general, the project follows a two-level approach. At the first level, research is mainly concerned with secondary analyses of existing empirical data. The various research will draw on both micro data (e.g.,from Eurobarometer) and country-level data (e.g., from the Media Pluralism Monitor, Mavise, Digital News Report, etc.), using quantitative statistical methods. A series of indicators will be developed and used to describe and analyze the state of democracy in EU countries. At the second level, various qualitative approaches such as in-depth interviews, content analysis, ethnographic methods, focus groups and discourse analysis will be applied. The results of these studies will be integrated into the planned media map, possibly after being quantified. Participatory action research methods will be used for the development of a “media map for future democracies” as a counterpart to the “real” European media map, which is to be carried out together with citizens across Europe.

Expected results

This project will result in the development of a tool that helps to monitor and analyse political information environments in order to derive guidelines that support developments that promote democracy and counteract phenomena that may jeopardize democracy. This tool will be designed as an interactive multi-layer map of European political information environments, which will be available open access to everyone and whose layers will reflect the abovementioned components of the political information environment, that is (1) the legal and regulatory framework, (2) the supply side and (3) the demand side. By overlaying the maps, the relationships between framework, supply and demand side will become apparent. The idea behind this tool is not only to convey the research findings and facilitate comparisons across countries, but most importantly, to clarify the extent to which certain media types under which conditions perform which democratic functions for which audiences in each EU Member State.

Role of IMT Atlantique

IMT Atlantique is responsible to provide the country level information for France for the work package WP3 (the legal and regulatory framework), WP4 (the supply side), WP5 (the demand side of media markets), and contribute to the dissemination, communication and exploitation of the project’s results (WP7).