Media4Diversity. Taking the pulse of diversity in the Media. A Study on Media and Diversity in EU Member States and 3 EEA countries

Diversity is both a reality and a necessity in European societies. At a time when the media shares with our political institutions - and, most recently, with our financial institutions - a crisis of trust and credibility
in the eyes of the public, the Study Media4Diversity aims to provide inspiration in how the media sector, civil society organisations and policy makers can help strengthen the very fabric of our diverse societies, despite the major challenges that both society and the media sector itself currently face.

Three leading media assistance organisations - Internews Europe, project coordinator and its partners, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Media Diversity Institute (MDI) – were selected by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs & Equal
opportunities of the European Commission to provide a structured mapping of the most significant and/or innovative media diversity initiatives taken by or about the media to promote diversity and/or combat discrimination based on grounds foreseen under Article 13 of the Treaty of European Union.

Section I. The Wider Picture introduces the driving forces affecting social cohesion, the role of the media in both impeding and advancing the diversity agenda, and summarises key examples of policy leadership at the EU level.

Section II. The Study presents the objectives and methodology underlying the survey, which led to the selection of initiatives presented in this publication.

Section III. The Selection of the 30 initiatives is classified by their main area of focus, i.e. the area of activity they want to strengthen, improve or develop:

Journalism: initiatives aimed at including diversity in the editorial process and improving the quality of journalism

Production: improved diversity related programme production, creative approaches and multi-media formats

Employment: performance in recruitment policy and career advancement that reflects diversity

Training: evidence of diversity training across all levels of the organisation

Partnerships: strengthening networks, cooperation and sharing good practice

Organisation: the degree of internalisation of diversity issues across all areas of a media outlets’ operations from human resource policy to media output

Thanks to the internet survey, but also via further investigation led by the Study team, outstanding
examples of practical handbooks and guides and notable media awards programmes have been identified and included in this section.

An analysis of the gaps in the media and diversity arena that the Study has discovered, a report on the Prague seminar, followed by the recommendations drafted from the survey results and validated in Prague are presented in Section IV. The Outcomes.

The conclusion and analysis are presented in Section V. The Conclusion. This section features the Study team’s reflections on the key challenges and opportunities in scaling up the uptake of media diversity initiatives across Europe, given the wider social and economic context in which the media sector itself is operating.

• Primary Source

Website: Media 4 Diversity http://www.media4diversity.eu/

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