Media and Journalism Research Center

Last updated
Media and Journalism Research Center
Formation2004;21 years ago (2004)
Type Research center
Director
Marius Dragomir
Website journalismresearch.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Formerly called
Center for Media, Data and Society (2014-2022)
Center for Media and Communication Studies (2004-2014)

The Media and Journalism Research Center is a think tank that produces scholarly and practice-oriented research about journalism, media freedom, and internet policy. The organization maintains a cooperation agreement with the University of Santiago de Compostela. [1]

Contents

History

The center was founded as the Center for Media and Communication Studies at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. It began in 2004, and was designed to serve as a focal point an international network [2] of scholars and academic institutions, whose research ranges from media and communications policy, fundamental communications rights through media and civil society and new media and digital technology to media in transition. In September 2014 it was relaunched as the Center for Media, Data and Society [3] to represent new interests in technology policy, and big data. [4] Media expert, journalist and scholar Marius Dragomir led the center starting in September 2016. [5] Most of CMDS' projects are continued by the Media and Journalism Research Center, a research institute established by Marius Dragomir in October 2022 that is independent of CEU. [6]

Projects and Mission

The center's research projects focused on identifying trends and challenges in the use of information technologies and advancing policy discussions about the regulation of data and media. Projects of CMDS included Creative Approaches to Living Cultural Archives, [7] Ranking Digital Rights, [8] Strengthening Journalism in Europe, [9] Research on Violent Online Political Extremism. [10] Its projects have been funded by the Open Society Foundations, National Endowment for Democracy, European Union, Media Development Investment Fund, Internews Network, Thomson Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation , and the Prague Civil Society Center. [11]

The center was also known for its monitoring work on media policy in Central and Eastern Europe and Hungary in particular. [12] Since its launch in 2017, the Media Influence Matrix project designed by Dragomir expanded to over 50 countries. [13] The center is also known for its research on media capture. [14] Dragomir published studies that attempted to define [15] and analyze [16] the media capture phenomenon. The MJRC's research on public service media and state media was cited in articles published by the European Journal of Communication and The Political Quarterly in 2024, [17] [18] and Dragomir has co-authored multiple academic journal articles about public service media and online disinformation. [19] [20] [21] Dragomir also authored a report for UNESCO in 2020 on editorial independence and state-captured private media that was used to prepare a broader report released in 2022 on global trends on freedom of expression and media development, [22] [23] and has also written chapters in edited volumes about private media capture by states and journalism in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [24] [25]

State Media Monitor

The State Media Monitor explores the nuances of different types of public and state media, including serving as a database that analyzes many outlets around the world based on factors like editorial independence, funding, and ownership/governance. [13] The 2024 State Media Monitor list, including the evaluation of new sources, was released in September. [26]

State Media Monitor ratings [27]
RatingOfficial descriptionFundingGovernanceEditorial control
Independent public (IP)Public service media whose funding and governing mechanisms are designed in such a way as to fully insulate them from government interference.NoNoNo
Independent state-funded (ISF)Public service media whose main funding source is the state, which, however, does not own them or control their governing bodies, and does not attempt to control their editorial agenda.YesNoNo
Independent state-managed/state-owned (ISM)Public service media not predominantly funded from state budget resources that are either owned by the state or whose governing bodies are controlled by the government, which, however, does not attempt to control their editorial agenda.NoYesNo
Independent state-funded and state-managed (ISFM)Public service media whose main funding source is the state, which owns them or controls their governing bodies, without, however, attempting to control their editorial agenda.YesYesNo
Captured private (CaPr)Privately owned media outlets dependent to a large degree on the government for funding or other privileges (i.e. state advertising or public procurement contracts for other businesses run by their owners).MaybeNoYes
Captured public/state-managed (CaPu)Public service or state-owned media not predominantly financed through state budget resources, where the state is using its status as owner and/or its control over the management of these outlets to influence their editorial agenda.NoYesYes
State-controlled (SC)State media created as propaganda channels, typical for authoritarian regimes, or failed public media in which the government retains a major role, funding and owning them, controlling their management and closely supervising their editorial agenda.YesYesYes

See also

References

  1. "Contact - Media and Journalism Research Center". 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  2. "Center for Media and Communication Studies (CMCS)". Media and Information Literacy Clearinghouse. 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  3. "Name change". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
  4. "Mission of CMDS". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
  5. "Marius Dragomir Appointed Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society | CMDS". cmds.ceu.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  6. "About". MJRC. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2014-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Ranking Digital Rights - Funders and Partners". Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2022-06-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "VOX-POL: Virtual Center of Excellence for Research in Violent Online Political Extremism | Central European University". www.ceu.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  11. "About - Media and Journalism Research Center". 2020-01-12. Archived from the original on 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  12. "Hungary's Crackdown on the Press". New York Times. September 8, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Project Summary - State Media Monitor". 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  14. Chioccioli, Beatrice (2024-10-29). "Media Capture Monitoring Report: explore the methodology". ipi.media. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  15. "MDIF publishes report on media capture in Europe – MDIF". 21 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  16. International Media Development. Peter Lang. 2019. pp. 93–104. ISBN   978-1-4331-5150-7.
  17. Milosavljević, Marko; Poler, Melita (2024). "The role and accountability of the state as a news media owner in the contemporary media landscape". European Journal of Communication. 39 (5). Sage Publishing: 486–497. doi: 10.1177/02673231241267145 .
  18. Moore, Martin (2024). "Keeping Democracies Alive: The Role of Public Service Media". The Political Quarterly. 95 (1). Wiley-Blackwell: 108–112. doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.13359 .
  19. Horowitz, Minna; Cushion, Stephen; Dragomir, Marius; Manjón, Sergio Gutiérrez; Pantti, Mervi (2021). "A Framework for Assessing the Role of Public Service Media Organizations in Countering Disinformation". Digital Journalism . 10 (5). Routledge: 843–865. doi:10.1080/21670811.2021.1987948.
  20. Dragomir, Marius; Rúas-Araújo, José; Horowitz, Minna (2024). "Beyond online disinformation: assessing national information resilience in four European countries". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications . 11 (101). Nature Portfolio. doi: 10.1057/s41599-024-02605-5 .
  21. Dragomir, Marius; López, Miguel Túñez (2024). "How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries". European Journal of Communication. 39 (6). Sage Publishing: 608–624. doi:10.1177/02673231241290062.
  22. Dragomir, Marius (2020). Reporting Facts: Free from Fear or Favour (Report). Paris: UNESCO. ISBN   978-9231004223.
  23. Journalism Is a Public Good: World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development, Global Report 2021/2022 (Report). Paris: UNESCO. 2022. ISBN   978-9231005091.
  24. Dragomir, Marius (2024). "2. The Shift in Media Power: How Media Capture Is Changing the Game". In Goyanes, Manuel; Cañedo, Azahara (eds.). Media Influence on Opinion Change and Democracy: How Private, Public and Social Media Organizations Shape Public Opinion. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 11–25. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-70231-0. ISBN   978-3031702303.
  25. Dragomir, Marius (2024). "15. Knowledge Transfer: From Corporations to the Media and from the Media to Society". In Sixto-García, José; Quian, Alberto; Rodríguez-Vázquez, Ana-Isabel; Silva-Rodríguez, Alba; Soengas-Pérez, Xosé (eds.). Journalism, Digital Media and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 197–209. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-63153-5. ISBN   978-3031631528.
  26. "State Media Monitor – The world's state and public media database". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  27. "Typology – State Media Monitor". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2025-01-21.