KoWi projects gain visibility in Brussels

Two KoWi projects have recently sparked public interest in Brussels.

The Horizon ‘Resilient Media for Democracy in the Digital Age” (ReMeD) held its concluding conference at the Press Club Brussels Europe on 12-13 February. This event was co-organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and showcased the project’s latest findings, which were based on hundreds of interviews with media practitioners and users across several European countries (including Austria). The Dept. of Communication Studies (Division Media Politics and Media Economics) contributed with a focus on the resilience of media funding models, led by Tales Tomaz and Josef Trappel. Despite a rise in subscription and other paid models, the findings show that there is currently no structure that guarantees the long-term sustainability of news businesses. The final results will soon be published in a policy brief.

Tales Tomaz also appeared in a BraveNews.eu stoy on media ownership, due to his expertise in this area and his work on the Euromedia Ownership Monitor – another EU-funded project that he coordinates with Josef Trappel. The article emphasises the importance of transparency in media ownership, as the EU-focused outlets Euractiv and Politico face scrutiny regarding their ownership and funding sources. The full story is available online (no paywall).