Media freedom
Europe has a new law meant to protect it - Media Ecology Newsletter #21
The European Media Freedom Act can be seen as a preemptive strike against attempts by governments and publishers to control journalists in an increasingly dangerous European context for democracy. Some countries in Europe are not as free as they should for journalists. A new body proposed by the European Commission should help them. The Act also forbids the use of spyware against journalists.
There have been some criticism and some approval. We are not discussing those. But we know that this is not the end to the discussion. And we can add some ideas.
First, we need to improve the concept of “journalist” in order to comply with the new media environment in which both professionals and citizens can do journalism (as in “producing news in a transparent method, verifying sources, keeping independent of them, for the purpose of serving the public's need for information”) while both professionals and citizens can also do just communication (as is “gather attention and fill it with content aimed at getting influence and power”).
Moreover we need to improve the concept of “publisher” in order to decide what role in publishing is played by platforms and other outlets that make money with the news.
For sure, we see that Europe is engaged in entering the space of policies needed to guaranteeing the freedom of the media in all European countries. Here is how Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Values and transparency, commented the Act: “For some, it will be too much. For some, it will be too little. For some who say the EU should not regulate the media landscape in Europe, we have a message: we believe the opposite.”
Welcome to the “media ecology” newsletter. In this issue I focus on sharing links that I consider strategic. But of course the European Media Freedom Act is the main feature. And there is also the announcement of an alliance with another newsletter: Vivre par(mi) les écrans.
Readings (indirectly) on the subject
1. Esprit, the magazine, has a very useful article by Éric Bertin Jean-Maxence Granier: Médias hybrides. It is useful for those that like to revive their perspective about what happened to the media with the digitalization. Spoiling anticipation before you read: it was not a technological change; it was a social and economic change.
2. You too should be reading “Paura della scienza”, by Enrico Pedemonte (Treccani 2022). I wrote about it on Il Sole 24 Ore. If you are worried about the way societies in the West get their news about science, this book is no comfort, and yet it helps.
3. In the meantime Peter K. Fallon has written “Propaganda 2.1. Understanding propaganda in the digital age”. You should take a look. It is not as simple as it seems.
4. How the digital camera was invented. And not understood by Kodak. It is a reading that is always useful to all those that are not sure about giving a thought at new tech-social trends
5. TikTok follows BeReal, says TechCrunch. But for how long will people like to be invited - everyday at a different time - to capture and share a picture in 2 minutes? Is it really a way to be real?
Podcasts in Italian, by me
L’altra metà del verso. Rai Radio 3
Media Ecology. Intesa Sanpaolo on air
Eppur s’innova. Luiss University Press
Ecology of screens
On the occasion of the International Conference Vivre par(mi) les écrans: entre passé et avenir, which was held in Lyon at the end of May, the newsletter of the International Research Group Vivre par(mi) les écrans and the Media Ecology newsletter agreed to signal, each to its recipients, the importance to them of the other's content, inviting them to subscribe to receive it and disseminate it among their contacts. So please visit Vivre par(mi) les écrans and subscribe to the newsletter.
This choice of collaboration stems from the common project of promoting, developing and sharing highly qualified knowledge aimed at creating tools for guidance, critique and intervention in the field of media ecology and our current and future living between(mite) screens, as well as fostering the social dissemination of the aforementioned knowledge and tools.
Follow the next Moebius, Lugano: October 14-15, 2022. It will be about fake news, hate speech, Metaverse.