The LSE Media Policy Project, in collaboration with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), invites scholars to contribute their findings and evidence-based ideas to policy debates about Europe’s audiovisual media sector, on 5 February 2015 in Brussels.
One of the important policy tasks confronting the new European Commissioners is the review of theAudiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Previous rounds of policy discussions leading to the current version of the AVMSD were largely dominated by voices from the larger, longer-standing EU member states. Research and evidence from the media environments of the new member states and smaller countries is needed to expand discussions and give voice to their interests and concerns.
Successful applicants will be invited to present policy papers at the event, with the opportunity to engage with high-level European Commission representatives, MEPs and other stakeholders. Policy papers should be up to 1000 words, targeted at a non-academic audience, and will be published and disseminated to policy makers and stakeholders following the conference.
We would like to invite papers related to the following topics:
- Content and Convergence: What are the consequences of convergence for content production? How can EU policy encourage content production and distribution? Does the country of origin principle still work in media service? In which ways is audiovisual content consumed currently? Is this changing, and if so, how?
- Independence of Regulation: What are the challenges to the independence of regulators? What changes could or should be made to EU policy to ensure independence?
- Media Plurality and Diversity: What is the state of plurality of ownership and diversity of views in the region? What could or should be done at the EU level to encourage media pluralism? How are diverse audiences using and relating to media?
To apply, please submit an abstract of up to 250 words outlining first the policy issue your work addresses and your key research finding(s) to media.policyproject@lse.ac.uk by 17.00 GMT on 10 December. The selection will be made by a peer review panel by 19 December.