Media Influence Matrix

CMDS has launched the Media Influence Matrix Project to investigate the profound influence that rapid shifts in policy, sources of funding and technology companies in the public sphere are having on journalism today.

The project seeks to research the changing landscape of:

• government and policy space, with a focus on the changes in the policy and regulatory environment; 
• funding, with a focus on the key funding sources of journalism and the impact on editorial coverage; 
• technology in the public sphere, with a focus on how technology companies, through activities such as automation and algorithm-based content distribution, impact news media and journalism.

The project emphasizes news media in particular, including newly emerged players. The study is neither aimed at exhaustively mapping the entire media industry nor is it intended to target specific media sectors. Instead, we map the most popular and most influential news media on a country-by-country basis and analyze their changing relations with politics, government and technology companies.

Media Influence Matrix publishes a series of articles, analytical papers and datasets. They feed into the project’s final output, which will be a collection of country reports and comparative overviews.

The Media Influence Matrix tries to answer questions on these areas, including:

ON REGULATION

What are the key changes in regulation?

We are building a database of the regulatory authorities whose remit includes decisions that affect media and journalism. The database will be accompanied by an analysis of the main shifts in media policy and regulation, including changes in the remit and tasks, composition and funding of the broadcast, print, internet and data regulators.

Who makes policy decisions and how, and what impact do these decisions have on media?

We are building a registry of the key decision-makers in the regulatory and policy space. The registry will be accompanied by an analysis of the mechanisms in place to ensure transparency in the decision-making process and a review of major regulatory decisions that have had an impact, positive or negative, on media outlets and journalists.

Who’s influencing the watchdogs?

We are mapping the key influencers in the regulatory process, including local industry players and civil society groups, as well as external organizations.

ON FUNDING

How has the funding model changed?

We are mapping the most popular and most influential news media and are researching their funding models. This will be accompanied by an analysis of the key changes in their funding models over the past five years or so.

Who are the biggest funders of media and journalism?

We are building a matrix of the main funders of media and journalism, grouped by their affiliation to the political powers. In one category we have non-governmental funders (including main advertisers, philanthropies, political parties and other types of non-governmental groups and organizations). In the second category, we map the funding disbursed by governments to the media in various forms, including public media allocations, state advertising and other forms of state subsidies.

ON TECHNOLOGY

Who are the largest technology companies?

We are profiling the most prominent technology companies that produce or distribute news media content, analyzing their ownership and the nature of their local operations.

How do technology companies work with governments?

The database of key technology companies will be accompanied by an analysis of the relations with governments, including compliance with local regulations, cooperation over data ownership and unofficial connections with government representatives.

How technology companies work with news media?

We are collecting data and information to analyze the impact technology companies have on news media content, focusing on various forms of cooperation for content distribution, decisions related to automation methods used in the distribution of media content, joint monetization models and ownership links with players in the media industry.