To set out future-proof pathways to strengthen democracy through improving accountability, transparency and effectiveness of media production and expanding active and inclusive citizenship, the project aims to clarify the extent to which certain media under which legal and regulatory conditions perform which democratic functions for which audiences, thus making it apparent what is at stake for democratic media—and for democracy itself.
In analytical terms, the project deals with the dimensions of the “political information environment” in which we live: media law and regulation, media supply, and media use—with all three dimensions embedded in a democratic political order. This is why MeDeMAP goes one step further and involves European citizens in reflecting on media supply and demand and developing a vision of a future democratic media landscape (Figure 1).
In line with these dimensions, the project aims to pursue the following five objectives (Figure 2):
(1) Establishing an up-to-date overview and understanding of the state of democracy in the European Union, its opportunities, strengths and threats, and the roles and functions of media and journalism that can be derived from it
(2) Mapping legal and (self-)regulatory frameworks within which traditional and new media organizations and journalists operate
(3) Mapping democratic qualities of media supply and media-enabled participation by differentiating between participation through and in the media—and missed opportunities to support participation at all
(4) Mapping people’s media use, information needs and democratic attitudes in diverse societies and high-choice media environments
(5) Mapping future pathways for building a more resilient democratic media system and enhancing political participation and civic engagement
By applying an innovative multi-method design consisting of data science methods, large-scale quantitative analyses, in-depth qualitative approaches and participatory action research and in collaboration of ten European partners with different expertise, experiences, and organisational cultures (Figure 3), the project will cover the entire range of news media and how they promote or jeopardize political participation in the sense of both representative and participatory notions of democracy as they exist in EU policy and European societies.
