The Polish Communication Association is hosting a panel session titled «Media Freedom and Democracy: Europe from a Comparative Perspective» during the upcoming International Communication Association (ICA) conference. I had the opportunity to be part of the discussion.

The panel takes a critical look at authenticity in communication, particularly through the lens of media freedom and democracy within Europe. It references findings from the EU-funded project MEDIADELCOM and explores broader cultural contexts, diverse interpretations of democratic media visions, and possible cultural impediments to media freedom implementation. The panel will employ various methodologies such as comparative analysis, agent-oriented modeling, and case studies of critical cultural junctures.

The papers to be discussed are as follows:

Democratic and Cultural U-Turns? Hungary and Poland Explained – This paper probes the quality of democracy in Hungary and Poland, taking into account various narratives concerning present-day democracy.

How Quality of Journalism Influences Press Freedom in 14 European Countries: A fsQCA Comparative Approach – This research investigates the correlation between the journalistic field and press freedom values in 14 Western and Eastern European countries.

Deliberative Communication and Democratic Society: The Media-related Risks and Opportunities as the Interaction of Agents – Halliki Harro-Loit, Martín Oller Alonso, among others, will present this study. It utilises an actor approach to examine media-related risks and opportunities for deliberative communication.

Journalism Competencies and Self-regulation: The European Perspective – This paper focuses on self-regulation and its connection to journalism competencies across 14 European countries.

Research With(out) Values: Institutionalization and Impact of Media Accountability as an Academic Field – This paper discusses the relevance of media accountability as an academic field and its impact on journalism practice.