Monitoring media pluralism in Europe : application of the media pluralism monitor 2016 in the European Union, Montenegro and Turkey

This report presents the results and the methodology of the 2016 implementation of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) in EU-28 countries and in Montenegro and Turkey (MPM2016). The MPM is a tool that has been developed by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute to assess the risks to media pluralism in a given country. The MPM project is co-funded by the European Union. Prior to the 2016 implementation, the tool was tested under two pilot-projects that were cofunded by the European Union in 2014 and 2015 (CMPF 2015; CMPF 2016). These two pilot-test implementations built on the prototype of the MPM that was designed in the 2009 Independent Study on Indicators for Media Pluralism in the Member States - Towards a Risk-Based Approach carried out by KU Leuven, JIBS, CEU, Ernst&Young, and a team of national experts (KU Leuven, 2009). The Monitor assesses the risks to media pluralism based on a set of twenty indicators covering a broad notion of media pluralism that encompasses political, cultural, geographical, structural and content related dimensions1. All types of media are covered: public service, commercial, community media, new media and online platforms. The risks for media pluralism are measured in four different areas: Basic Protection, Market Plurality, Political Independence and Social Inclusiveness. The indicators cover legal, economic and socio-political questions. National experts, composing the MPM network of local teams, provided the data to assess the levels of risk at country level, drafted the country reports, while the CMPF supervised and guaranteed quality and consistency of the data collection and assessed the levels of risk. CMPF also directly implemented the MPM in Italy and Malta. The assessment of the risk to media pluralism in a given country by the MPM does not necessarily represent an effective lack of pluralism in a given context. The results, the data collected and the analysis provide useful information for policymakers, researchers, and civil society so as to better understand the threats to media pluralism in different media contexts and to plan relevant media policy or advocacy measures, where needed.