Krisztina Rozgonyi and Marius Dragomir: Freedom of expression in Central & Eastern Europe
Channel: Alexander von Humboldt Institut for internet and society
Date: 2022-03-29

Media systems in Central and Eastern Europe have been subject to significant transformation processes over the past two decades. In the face of populist tendencies and with large swathes of the media being captured by governments and oligarchs, the space for independent journalism has dramatically shrunk in most of the region’s nations. For citizens, this results in experiencing their everyday realities through multiple layers of distorted communication channels. This situation is further compounded by global digital technologies such as the algorithm-driven manipulation of content. These rapid developments have additional negative effects on national and regional media diversity.

How can economically vulnerable media regain editorial independence and stand up against the powerful propaganda channels? To find answers to this question, this edition of the lecture series features two scholars who specialise on the digital transformation of media systems in democratic societies and the particular challenges in Central and Eastern Europe.

Marius Dragomir talks about the changes experienced by media systems in Central and Eastern Europe and presents findings of his research into the impact of media capture on independent journalism. He highlights risks that independent journalism is likely to face in the near future. Krisztina Rozgonyi analyses how digital societies in Central and Eastern Europe are embedded in a politically manipulated communicative context and sheds light on its historical roots. This unique situation is further complicated by social media platforms, resulting in an increased vulnerability of the public to hate speech, disinformation, and propaganda.

Marius Dragomir is the Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society. In 2015, he founded MediaPowerMonitor, a community of experts in media policy covering trends in regulation, business and politics that influence journalism. He has spent the past two decades in the media research field, specialising in media and communication regulation, digital media, governing structures of public service media, and media and ownership regulation. Marius is now running a slew of comparative research projects including the Media Influence Matrix, a global research project looking into power relations and undue influence in news media.

Krisztina Rozgonyi is senior scientist at the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and a senior expert on international media, telecommunications, and IP legal and policy. She works with international and European organisations, national governments and regulators as advisor on media freedom, spectrum policy and digital platform governance. Her recent work for the Venice Commission focused on responding to disinformation online. Krisztina Rozgonyi has also engaged recently with the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom as an expert on Artificial Intelligence & media pluralism.

This event took place on Monday 21 March 2022 | 7 pm | Säälchen –  Holzmarktsraße 25

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