June 27: Pan-European Forum on Media Pluralism and New Media

Central European University is one of a wide range of organizations and institutions who are supporting the New Media Forum on June 27:

UNITED IN DIVERSITY

Pan-European Forum on Media Pluralism and New Media

wIDER? wORLD? wEB?

Date: Wednesday 27 June 2012, 09.30-18.00
Location: European Parliament - Plenary Chamber, Brussels

This unique meeting in a unique setting will bring together politicians, traditional and new media, academics, NGOs, judges and leaders from the music, film and book industries in a pan-European dialogue, and will contribute to shaping future policy and industry responses. Don't miss this opportunity to have your say! Registration will close on 12 June.

Kristina Irion, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at CEY and  Research Director, Public Policy, at the CMCS, is a member of the event's Advisory Committee.

The event will focus on media diversity with an emphasis on the new media, and issues for discussion will include:

• Do the new media contribute to, or undermine, a pluralistic public sphere?
• Do new technologies overcome bottlenecks related to traditional media or do they create new information gatekeepers?
• Should existing media ownership regulations for traditional media be relaxed, or extended to new media?
• How have industries, such as music, books and film, faced the challenges presented by the new media?
• Is there a need for diversity obligations on online on-demand media and can they be imposed?
• Should the EU take an initiative in ownership regulation in this era of globalization?
• How do we assess the role of publicly funded media, specifically public service broadcasters (PSBs), but also, where relevant, subsidised press and online operations?

The event will be chaired by Vladimiro Zagrebelsky (Italy), former judge at the European Court of Human Rights; Mr Justice Burton (UK), High Court judge, England and Wales; and Bénédicte Paviot (France), broadcaster, France 24.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission; 
• Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; 
• Ženet Mujić, OSCE, Senior Adviser to the Representative; 
• Ingrid Lieten (Belgium), Flemish Media Minister; 
• Ed Richards (UK), CEO, Ofcom; 
• Bernard Malzini (Germany), President of the German Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich; 
• Christian Van Thillo (Belgium), CEO, De Persgroep; Chairman European Commission Media Futures Group; 
• Herta Däubler-Gmelin (Germany), Professor Freien Universität Berlin; member European Commission High Level Expert Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism

The event is ...

DEVISED BY: The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn (UK), University of Leuven, ICRI & IBBT (Belgium) and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (Italy)

SUPPORTED BY (amongst others): Alliance Internationale de Journalistes; London School of Economics; University of Westminster; Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) UK; Central European University; Mirovni (Peace) Institute, Slovenia; International Federation of Journalists; European Alternatives – Civil Society, Italy; European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA); European Publishers Council; Association of European Journalists; Music Managers Forum; Ofcom; UNESCO; Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); European Broadcasting Union (EBU); European Association for Viewers Interests (EAVI); Wired Magazine; Irish Times; Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield; Tampere University; University of Naples; University of Hong Kong; Charles University, Prague; Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam; Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign policy; MEDIADEM project; London Press Club; European Centre for Journalists; Google; BBC; Die Tageszeitung (Taz).

If you cannot access the event's website, or need to cancel your participation, please contact nmf27@mediapluralism.eu .