Media and Journalism Research Center

28/08/2026

As part of our State Media Monitor 2026 update, we're pleased to share our latest assessment of State and Public Media in South Asia.
South Asia is home to nearly 1.99 billion people almost a quarter of the world's population across eight countries, from India, with 1.46 billion people, to the Maldives, with just over half a million. Across the region, State Media Monitor maps 21 state media organisations.
Our analysis finds that 15 organisations—around seven in ten—are State-Controlled, meeting all three Matrix criteria: predominant state funding, state ownership or governance, and editorial control. Another five are classified as Captured Public, four of them in Sri Lanka.
There is just one exception. Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper, is the region's only organisation classified as Independent State-Managed/Owned. While it remains majority state-owned, its editorial independence is demonstrated in practice, even though it is not formally guaranteed by law.

Find out more below!
https://statemediamonitor.com/2026/08/state-and-public-media-in-south-asia-reform-on-paper-control-in-practice/

25/08/2026

As part of our Media Funding Series, building on an older, smaller study, we have just launched a new publication mapping more than €1 billion in EU funding for media and journalism related projects.
Tracing the Flows examines beneficiary-level funding recorded between 2014 and 2024 and provides a structural picture of how this money was distributed, through which institutions and for what kinds of activities.
The study covers €1.0615 billion in contracted amounts, 6,103 beneficiary entries and 2,166 organisations and entities.
We hope that the study will help establish a clearer evidence base for the next stage of work.
The research separates support-oriented funding from procurement spending, allowing journalism support, media development, research, audiovisual work and related activities to be distinguished from communication campaigns, media buying, monitoring, events and other services purchased by EU institutions.
The study does not assess individual grants or programmes. Instead, it provides a transparent and reproducible baseline that researchers can build on, policymakers can use to examine funding structures, and media organisations and advocates can draw on when making the case for better-designed, more accessible and more responsive support.
A study authored by Marius Dragomir and Flora Alfiero. Accompanied by a searchable database.

The Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) has launched Tracing the Flows, a new study providing a comprehensive structural analysis of European Union funding connected to media and journalism over an eleven-year period, between 2014 and 2024. Drawing on the EU Financial Transparency System, th...

25/08/2026

A new episode of our Audio briefs is out and this time, we look at the United States and the emergence of a new form of media capture shaped by tech power, platforms, regulation, and changing business models.
How is the relationship between media, politics, and Big Tech evolving? And what does the American case tell us about the future of media capture around the world?
Tune in to Spotify find out.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Gz9kO40cHkoWTpCjDKSLy?si=91835fafac3c461e&nd=1&dlsi=6cb6bae49a844a9e

MJRC Audio Briefs · Episode

11/08/2026

What does protecting journalists in times of war really mean?
A new report by Maharat Foundation examines the urgent need to protect journalists covering armed conflicts.
The report documents the risks journalists faced during the Israeli war on Lebanon, including direct attacks, harassment, and domestic pressures that hindered reporting and restricted access to information. Many also experienced displacement and harsh living conditions, further limiting their ability to work.
It warns that attacks on journalists not only endanger media workers but also undermine the public's right to information and the documentation of wartime violations.
While international conventions and legal frameworks exist to protect journalists, the report argues that implementation remains weak and offers key recommendations to strengthen protections.
From a European perspective, Marius Dragomir, our director, explains in a recorded video the international agreements that underpin press freedom protections. He also highlights the policies and mechanisms developed by the Council of Europe and the European Union to improve journalists' safety and strengthen responses to threats against the media.
Alongside Marius, the report features interventions from Nizar Saghieh (Legal Agenda), Jad Shahrour (Samir Kassir Foundation), Nagham Rabih, Mohamad Kleit, and Mohamad Zanaty.

This report was prepared as part of the project “Support to Media Reform in Lebanon to Enhance Freedom of Expression,” with the support of the European Union.

Media Crews Under Threat: Between the Fires of War and Domestic Pressures

11/08/2026

Most people won't meet quantum computing through a big breakthrough, but through a bank login, a phone update, a digital certificate renewing in the background.
Our Signal #7 of the Secure Internet Observatory looks at the latest development in the quantum tech: security firms shipping tools to help organisations find their own encryption, governments turning post-quantum security into a supplier requirement, Europe naming who will coordinate its quantum networks.
All of it this is infrastructure. And infrastructure decides who is protected by default, who has to pay, and who waits for a vendor to move.
With practical questions for newsrooms and eight story angles for reporters.
Available now on MJExchange.

Login to Media and Journalism Exchange community via email or SSO today.

07/08/2026

In a recent Journalism Studies article, Jacob Nelson and Seth Lewis argue that simply being transparent is not enough to rebuild public trust in journalism. Instead, they suggest that news organizations should practice what they call capital transparency—being open about how financial considerations shape their work and acknowledging the tension between commercial pressures and journalism's public service mission.

The authors recognize that this kind of honesty may expose uncomfortable truths and is unlikely to restore trust in the news industry overnight. But they argue it can make individual journalists more credible, help audiences distinguish outlets that genuinely serve the public interest from those driven mainly by profit, and, in the long run, strengthen trust in public interest journalism.

Our colleague Robert Nemeth has summarized the article for the Journalism Funders Forum newsletter, which our center curates in partnership with Philea - Philanthropy Europe Association.

In a research article in Journalism Studies, Jacob L. Nelson and Seth C. Lewis argue that transparency alone cannot rebuild trust; news organisations must

06/08/2026

What are the limits of regulating AI-generated political campaign speech in Hungary? In a new article for Frontiers, our expert Zsuzsa Detrekoi explores the legal and regulatory challenges posed by AI-generated, fear-based political communication.

Using the example of a widely shared Hungarian election campaign video depicting a fictional wartime scenario, the article examines how emotionally charged AI-generated content can frame electoral choices as matters of survival. It also considers what this means for the boundaries of lawful political speech in today's digital media landscape.

The article argues that the key issue is not whether fear-based campaign speech should be banned, but whether existing regulatory frameworks are equipped to address the increasingly sophisticated forms of AI-generated political communication in digitally mediated environments.

This article examines the regulatory challenges posed by AI-generated, fear-based political communication through the example of a Hungarian election campaig...

06/08/2026

One question has been driving us for the past year: how do people actually find out what's happening in their communities?
At MJRC, we launched last year Local Signal, a new research project that maps local information ecosystems beyond traditional news media. We are looking at the full range of actors and channels through which local information travels, from journalism and local government to libraries, sports clubs, neighbourhood groups, cultural organisations, messaging apps and everyday conversations.
During this summer, our team is conducting fieldwork in Oviedo, Chichester, The Hague, Hamburg, Travemünde, Liepāja and Pärnu, combining data analysis with on-the-ground observation and interviews.
This autumn, we will publish our first findings and locality profiles, offering a new way to understand how communities stay informed, where information flows well, and where gaps remain.
This is just the beginning. Local Signal is designed as a growing research initiative, and we hope to expand it to many more communities over time.

Read more about the project here:
https://journalismresearch.org/2026/07/local-signal-to-publish-its-first-findings-this-autumn/

If you're a local journalist, researcher, librarian, community organiser or simply someone interested in how information moves through your community, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

MJRC will publish the first batch of findings from Local Signal: Mapping How Communities Get Informed in autumn 2026. The project examines how information travels within local communities, looking beyond traditional news outlets to include public institutions, civic and cultural organizations, polit...

03/08/2026

Most people won't meet quantum computing through a big breakthrough, but through a bank login, a phone update, a digital certificate renewing in the background.
Our Signal #7 of the Secure Internet Observatory looks at the latest development in the quanrum tech: security firms shipping tools to help organisations find their own encryption, governments turning post-quantum security into a supplier requirement, Europe naming who will coordinate its quantum networks.
All of it this is infrastructure. And infrastructure decides who is protected by default, who has to pay, and who waits for a vendor to move.
With practical questions for newsrooms and eight story angles for reporters.

Available for MJExchange members.
https://journalismresearch.circle.so/c/next-internet-observatory/secure-internet-observatory-signal-7-august-2026-304756b2-f0f5-4397-af87-2c854d55284c

30/07/2026

State and Public Media in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2026 is now published. We mapped 68 state and public media outlets across 25 countries. 57 of them, 83.8%, are state-controlled or captured, a share that has risen in every cycle since 2022.

Two findings stand out:
State control tracks poorly with regime type. The same State-Controlled classification applies to the national broadcasters of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and to those of Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and Panama. Jamaica's PBCJ was reclassified this year. Where independence exists, universities usually explain it. Six of the region's 11 independent outlets are housed in autonomous public universities. Only one principal national broadcaster in the region holds independent status: CERTV in the Dominican Republic.

This is our third regional overview of the 2026 cycle, after Sub-Saharan Africa and MENA. Europe and Asia follow, ahead of the global study launch in September.
https://statemediamonitor.com/2026/07/state-and-public-media-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-in-2026/