On 14 October 2024, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will organise a conference at ULB Solbosch in Bruxelles, Belgium, as part of its Media Councils in the Digital Age (MCDA) project.
Recent EU legislation on media freedom but also illegal content online, transparent advertisement in the media and disinformation give regulatory bodies increasingly more responsibilities. But what are the demarcations between regulation and self-regulation, a long-standing tradition in Europe’s press sector? What will be the new roles of regulators under the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and Digital Services Act (DSA)? And finally what does it mean for citizens? More accountable and trust in the media? We explore this, and more, in the one-day European Conference of Self-Regulation and Regulation in the Media Sector.
To participate in the conference online, please follow this link.
Please find the agenda below:
08:30 - 09:00: Welcome and registration
09:00 - 09:30: Opening remarks
Maja Sever, EFJ President
Daphne Koene, Coordination Committee member of AIPCE
09:30 - 10:00: Keynote speech
Muriel Hanot, General Secretary of CDJ
Alejandra Michel, Head of media law unit at UNamur
10:00 - 11:00: Panel 1 - AI and trust in journalism
This panel is to gain insight on the usefulness (or not) of AI guidelines for trust in journalism.
Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Chief Executive of Impress UK
Laurence Dierickx, Researcher and professor in digital & data journalism at ULB
Kim Gaudaire, student of Master in Journalism at ULB
Moderator: Ute Korinth, Board member of the German Federation of Journalists (DJV)
11:30 - 12:30: Panel 2 - Media literacy, self-regulation and citizens (Main session)
What do citizens think about disinformation in the media? What solutions exist? This panel will try to bridge the gap between industry and people.
Adeline Hulin, Chief of Unit for Media and Information Literacy and Digital Competencies at UNESCO
Biljana Georgievska, Executive Director of the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia
Florence Gourmand, Student and former intern at CDJ
Moderator: Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary of EFJ
11:15 - 13:00: Policy in practice - DSA and EMFA, media and platforms (Parallel side session)
The focus of this is on the relationship between the media and platforms and the interplay of the DSA and EMFA on this matter, looking into the implementation of EMFA, especially the EMFA Board, and in general for safeguarding media freedom with the EU laws.
Lead: Iva Nenadic, Research Fellow at the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom
12:30- 13:00: Fishbowl discussion
Interactive session and discussion on the previous session to engage young audiences live and online.
Lead: Yuk Lan Wong, EFJ Head of Projects
14:00 - 15:15: Panel 3 - EMFA Board and the next steps (Main session)
What will the new independent European Board for Media Services (EMBS) look like? What will be its structure, powers and resources?
Frederic Bokobza, Chair of EMFA sub-group and Deputy Director General of Arcom
Anna Herold, Head of the Audiovisual & Media Services Policy unit at the EU Commission DG CONNECT
Maria Donde, Director of International Relations at the Irish Regulatory body (Coimisiún na Meán)
Moderator: Renate Schroeder, Director of EFJ
14:00 - 15:15: Policy in practice - Media censorship, SLAPPs and self-regulation (Parallel side session)
The focus is on the study recently published by the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) exploring the role of self-regulatory bodies in fighting against SLAPPs. It will also look at the recently passed SLAPP legislation, the recommendations and their implementation.
Lead: Simone Benazzo, Researcher in journalism and media at Université libre de Bruxelles
15:45 - 16:45: Panel 4 - Regulation and self-regulation within the new regulatory framework
This panel will address how are self-regulators and regulators working in the new EU legislative landscape and how can citizens take advantage of this change.
Carlos Aguilar Paredes, Vice-Chair of ERGA and Member of the Board of the Spanish regulator CNMC
Muriel Hanot, General Secretary of CDJ
Raymond Harder, Lecturer in journalism studies at VU University Amsterdam
Moderator: Charlotte Michils, General Secretary at Vlaamse Vereniging van Journalisten (VVJ)
16:45 - 17:00: Closing remarks
Maja Sever, EFJ President