Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom

Expected Outcome: Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Key data gaps affecting the news media sectors at European level are addressed and all relevant stakeholders dispose of an updated and comprehensive knowledge base. Users’ consumption patterns of news are identified (online and offline). News media organisations and journalists are equipped with better knowledge and tools to adapt to digital transformation, to reach new audiences and to ensure a more resilient public sphere, especially for news sectors that are of particular relevance for democracy. Scope: Free and independent news media are key tenets of our democracies as they keep citizens informed, facilitate civic engagement across all democratic processes, and keep under scrutiny those in power. At present, journalistic newsrooms are under severe economic pressure and they face increasing forms of political influence and threats against media pluralism and independence. Social media forces them to compete for citizens’ attention with other forms of infotainment, which sometimes entail unverified opinions and low-quality or malicious sources. This is particularly affecting forms of journalism relying on original content, which takes more time and resources to produce (e.g. local media, investigative journalism, public interest news, journalistic magazines, etc.). There is evidence of market failures affecting these sectors, with phenomena such as emerging news deserts, limited…