On Friday, March 15, 2024, the #Stars4MediaDay conference: “Ready for AI & enlargement?” took place at the Résidence Palace, bringing together our Stars4Media community along with 80 participants and media company representatives from 20 European countries, including EU stakeholders and policymakers.
The day started with a key address from Commission Vice-President for Values & Transparency, Věra Jourová emphasizing the importance of a healthy media sector in democracies, stating “investing in the media is investing in democracy”. Following this, FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues underscored the necessity of a media industrial policy for the democratic system’s infrastructure.
During the first panel, moderated by Radovan Geist (Publisher at Euractiv Slovakia), discussions continued on the need for an industrial media policy, since, as Paolo Cesarini (Programme director at EUI) observed, other sectors receive operational aid and training programs, while the news media is in need of long-term investment. Christophe Leclercq, Europe MédiaLab founder and chair, voiced the collective desire for such a policy, hoping it would be a priority for the 2024-2029 mandate.
The second panel delved on the challenges and opportunities of AI and innovation in the media sector with future Europe MédiaLab Managing Director, David Mekkaoui, as moderator. Alina Poliakova, Ukrainska Pravda English Managing Director, flagged the importance of being transparent when using AI in the news media while Vincent Peyrègne, WAN-IFRA Chief Executive Officer, advocated for investing in tech skills in newsrooms and for educating media professionals on this because as he stated “it’s a lot about human beings not about technology”.
The third panel, moderated by Lyndsey Jones, Associate consultant, strategist and coach in WAN-IFRA Women in News, addressed Disinformation in Eastern Europe, highlighting the weaponization of information in armed conflicts, with a special focus on Russian disinformation tactics. The panel profited the insights of panelists from Ukraine (Mariia Leonova, The Tellers Agency, CEO) and Moldova (Catalina Dumbraveanu, Stars4Media NEWS programme manager) who were able to give a genuine and enriching input beyond Western perspectives.
The conference then transitioned to a marketplace networking lunch where key media associations and professionals such as News Media Europe, Journalismfund, EDMO/EUI, The Tellers Agency, Maldita.es, Alliance4Europe, as well as representatives from the Stars4Media community had the opportunity to showcase their objectives and engage in fruitful discussions with the rest of participants.
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to Stars4Media NEWS and Stars4Media Factchecking participants, where they discussed about the results of their programmes and also attended presentations of Professor Charlie Beckett (Department of Media&Communications at LSE and Founding Director of Polis), and Alexander Gubsky, Publisher of the Moscow Times.
On behalf of the Europe MédiaLab team, as well as the Stars4Media News and Factchecking partners and participants, we would like to thank all the guests who contributed to the event through their attendance and discussions. As Iliana Ivanova (European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth) stated during her keynote address: “Our goal is to foster an ecosystem where independent news media thrive and deliver quality information ensuring they remain the cornerstone of democracy”.
Since we want to double our efforts for a healthy media sector, we would like to hear your view on the event as well as in future opportunities within Europe MédiaLab community. Please fill the following questionnaire and let us know more about it.
You can have a sneak peek of the event below.
You can also enjoy again the keynote addresses from European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana Ivanova and Commission Vice-President for Values & Transparency, Věra Jourová here below.