Irish MEP says strong local journalism is essential to democratic resilience and pushed for greater EU support for independent, local and regional media.
Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP has welcomed the European Parliament’s focus on strengthening independent journalism and supporting local and regional media as part of its position on the European Democracy Shield.
The European Parliament today voted on a wide-ranging report setting out its recommendations for the new EU initiative, which aims to strengthen Europe’s ability to respond to foreign interference, disinformation and other threats to democratic institutions.
Ní Mhurchú, Ireland’s only member of the Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, said she had pushed in particular for stronger recognition of the role played by independent, local and regional journalism.
The report states that measures to promote and support free, credible and editorially independent media, including at local and regional level, should be a central part of the European Democracy Shield. It argues that protecting independent media from political, economic and structural capture is important to democratic resilience and to countering hybrid threats and disinformation.
Ní Mhurchú said:
“Independent journalism is one of the foundations of a functioning democracy, and that is particularly true at local level. Local newspapers, radio stations and other regional media are often the organisations that know their communities best, hold local decision-makers to account and provide people with reliable information about what is happening on their doorstep.
“I pushed strongly for local and regional media to be recognised explicitly in this report. We cannot talk seriously about protecting democracy while ignoring the financial and digital pressures facing the journalists and news organisations that serve our communities every day.
“Strong local journalism also helps build trust. When people have access to credible, professionally produced information about their own communities, it makes it more difficult for disinformation, manipulation and deliberately divisive narratives to fill the gap.”
The report highlights the financial difficulties facing European media and says the EU should explore new funding solutions. It welcomes support being developed through the EU’s Media Resilience programme and calls for longer-term commitments in future EU budgets.
It also specifically identifies the Media Resilience programme as an opportunity to consider new and innovative approaches to supporting independent local and regional media.
Ní Mhurchú added:
“Local media are operating in an extremely challenging environment. Advertising revenues have shifted dramatically, news organisations are competing with global digital platforms, and the way people find and consume news is changing rapidly.
“This report recognises that simply saying independent journalism matters is not enough. We have to look seriously at its long-term sustainability and at how European funding programmes can better support credible local and regional journalism without compromising editorial independence.”
Protecting journalism in the digital environment
The report also focuses on the relationship between professional journalism and large online platforms.
It argues that the current digital information environment can disadvantage media organisations that take editorial responsibility and meet public-interest obligations, while online intermediaries may not face comparable responsibilities.
The report calls for strong implementation of the European Media Freedom Act and says action should be taken where very large online platforms fail to respect obligations designed to protect editorial content from unjustified removal or restrictions on its visibility.
It also raises concerns about the impact of online advertising markets, algorithmic recommender systems and AI-based search tools on the visibility and financial sustainability of quality journalism.
The report calls for fairer and more transparent online advertising arrangements and says lawful European editorial media should not be unjustifiably delisted, demoted or otherwise disadvantaged by major digital platforms.
Ní Mhurchú said:
“We also need a fairer digital environment for journalism. Local and independent media should not be producing trusted, professionally edited public-interest journalism only to find that their content is pushed down, their traffic is taken away or the advertising revenues that sustain them are captured elsewhere.”
