On Tuesday, January 14th, 2024, Stars4Media XI: “Democracy & Maison du MédiaLab” gathered people, including media professionals, policymakers, and innovators, at the Résidence Palace in Brussels. Organised by Europe MédiaLab, the event centred on the inauguration of the Maison du MédiaLab which aims at tripling the number of correspondents from Eastern Europe in Brussels and on the discussions about the priorities of the new Parliament and Commission for the media sector.
Opening Keynotes
The conference was opened with keynotes made by Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement and EU Parliament First VP, Sabine Verheyen. Marta Kos discussed about the journalism in the present geopolitical situation and the importance of strengthening the relation between journalists and EU to deliver clear messages to countries and combating foreign hybrid attacks: “As journalists, you have the power to cut through the noise, establish the facts and translate the complexities of our Union into stories that resonate with the people in your countries. But there is more. We also need you here because you bring new perspectives into the corridors of Brussels.”
Following the Commissioner for Enlargement, Sabine Verheyen, The EU Parliament First VP, highlights the importance of projects such as Maison du MediaLab for media in shaping resilient democracies and build bridges between EU and its citizens: “I see how important it is to have the right way of communication and what we need is the cooperation with you, with the journalists, with the media to bring Europe closer to people and to have an understanding of our common European values.”
First Panel
In the first panel, moderated by Radovan Geist (Euractiv.sk & EDMO), the two main topics discussed were about the democratic resilience and bridging East-West and the essential role of the media in filling the gaps that exist. The speakers of the panel, Vsevolod Chentsov, the Ukraine Ambassador to the EU, Lucia Yar, MEP from Renew Europe, Paolo Cesarini, the Director of EDMO / EUI, Dafydd ab Iago the President of API and , Laura Greenhalgh, the Managing Editor of Politico.eu discussed about how to strengthen the power of independent media in delivering clear and transparent messages to the public and which action has to be followed to combat the current challenges journalists are facing nowadays.
Second Panel
The second panel, moderated by Max von Abendroth (Media Development Investment Fund), tackled important issues such as economic resilience and the digital sovereignty, with speakers such as Diego Agúndez from DG CNECT Head of Sector – Multimedia/News Media, the EFJ Director Renate Schroeder, Chief Executive Erika Staël von Holstein from Re-Imagine Europa, Benjamin Sabbah from Reporters Sans Frontières / Without Borders and Georgi Gotev, Euractiv Senior Editor. The discussion explores the ways of building on the opportunities on the strength of Europe. Journalism and fact-checking is under threat nowadays and they need protection, and the EU has the role to facilitate their security and cooperation with them to combat these challenges.
Maison du MediaLab & Conclusions
The panels highlighted two types of democracy infrastructure, the bridges between East and West and dams against the disinformation. The last part of the conference presented one of the important bricks on building these bridges and dams, Maison du MédiaLab: how the idea was born, the reasons behind its creation and the final goals of the project. Sharon Leclercq-Spooner, MédiaLab co-initiator, EPPA senior advisor, Emmanuelle Maire, co-founder in a personal capacity, EU Commission DG Envi, Christophe Leclercq, Chairman of Europe MédiaLab gave more insights about the project.
The conference was closed by Vera Jourova, Vice-Rector at Charles University (Prague), former EU Commission VP for transparency & values, giving perspectives for democracy and media for the upcoming period and Maria João Rodrigues, President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, summarizing the policy fundings and synthesis the day.
The conference then transitioned to a marketplace networking lunch where key media associations and professionals such as EDMO/EUI, Global Forum for Media Development Agency, Lie detector, EFJ as well as representatives from the Stars4Media community and Maison du MédiaLab and Eastern European correspondents had the opportunity to showcase their objectives and engage in fruitful discussions with the rest of participants.
Watch the event highlight here: