CFPs: Media Ownership Monitoring System

The European Democracy Action Plan and the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan aim to strengthen media freedom and media pluralism. One of the measures announced is to improve the understanding and public availability of media ownership information. To achieve this objective, the EDAP announced that the Commission would co-finance the new Media Ownership Monitoring System, a pilot project setting up a publicly available database containing relevant information on media outlets. Improving media ownership transparency is also an objective of the European Media Freedom Act. The first pilot project was launched in September 2021, followed by a second project that extended the scope to cover the 27 Member States.

Objectives 

• While digital technology has lowered the entry costs of mass media and opened up a tightly regulated market to a wide range of new players, it has also brought about a trend towards concentration of ownership as the business model of traditional media has come under stress. Market failure, regulatory shortcomings and algorithmic news distribution have led to new risks in terms of media pluralism. Transparency of media ownership is consequently crucial, as it is a pre-requisite for meaningful understanding of the market, which, in turn, is required for any concentration control and/or regulatory intervention as well as meaningful media literacy.
• The Media Ownership Monitoring System aims to address such shortcomings by providing a country-based database containing information on media ownership and by a systematic assessment of relevant legal frameworks as well as risks to media ownership transparency.
• This project should build on the results of the past pilot projects and is expected to update the information on media ownership currently available in the public database. The project should also update the assessment of the relevant legal frameworks as well as risks to media ownership transparency, taking also into account of the work carried out by the Media Pluralism Monitor in the area of media ownership and control.

Funding Information

• The available call budget is EUR 500,000. The EU co-financing is limited to a maximum of 90% of the total eligible costs.
• Projects should normally range between 10 and 12 months (extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment).

Eligible Activities

• The activities to be covered under this project are the following:
  • Check and update where needed the information in the publicly available country-based databases on the main media outlets that shape public opinion and the corporate entities and individuals which own or otherwise control them.
  • To the extent possible, expand the databases currently available by adding additional media outlets. Applicants are invited to indicate the number and types of media they intend to add to the database as well as the criteria for selecting them.
  • Update the exiting contextual narratives of the country-specific environment and the detailed legal assessment which lends itself to comparative analysis.
  • Update the analysis of the existing risk indicators in the legal, economic and technical domains, focusing on media ownership and control.
  • Ensure dissemination of the results via a dedicated online platform, launch events, press conferences and appropriate social media coverage. The use of interactive databases, maps and data visualisation is encouraged. Applicants are invited to describe their dissemination strategy and ways to ensure that the online platform they intend to set up is user-friendly and accessible.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
• Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants or combinations of:
  • non-profit organisation (private or public);
  • universities; – educational institutions;
  • international organisations;
  • research centres

For more information, visit EC.