Transtele Canal France international
CFI
CFI accompagne les médias publics ou privés (TV, radios, presse écrite, médias en ligne).
ID: 222977052257-70
Lobbying Activity
Response to European Democracy Shield
21 May 2025
Feedback from CFI, the French Media Development Agency Independent journalism: essential pillar of European democracy Independent public-interest journalism represents a fundamental public good for the quality and security of our information environment, the foundation of our democracies. Unlike other sectors such as agriculture or transport, journalism suffers from a lack of coherent and substantial funding policy. Economic and societal importance -The publishing and news sector employs approximately 1.1 million people in Europe and generates nearly 1% of the EU's GDP -A strong and independent media sector constitutes one of the best safeguards against disinformation and polarization It is crucial for the EU to allocate adequate resources to keep this sector operational in the face of disinformation narratives and favour information integrity, while investing in initial and long-life training Technological innovation as a lever for resilience. -The 2024 Draghi report highlights that some market disruptions caused by big tech companies are partly the result of the news industry's historical underinvestment in technology. -Publishers who have invested in technological innovation are performing better in today's digital environment Concrete proposals 1. Significant increase in media funding o Commissioner Kos' commitment to doubling funding for media in the European Neighbourhood is a step in the right direction but remains insufficient compared to funding from foreign actors 2. Diversification of funding types o Current support, mainly based on projects and business development aid, must be expanded o Need for direct core support for journalistic activities, as advocated in the "Media Viability Manifesto" 3. Enhanced protection of journalists o Expansion and strengthening of the European Commission's work to improve the safety of journalists o Full implementation of the 2021 Recommendation on the Safety of Journalists 4. Focus on public interest media resilience & rebalancing the economic model o Focus on support business development, revenue diversification of public interest media Need to restore the balance of economic power between news media and platforms that profit from their content o Requiring platforms to pay for journalistic content o Addressing imbalances in the advertising market 5. Investing in initial training to young journalists and life-long training for professional journalists and favour collaboration between all media professionals 6. Working with the media professionals and civil society actors to reinstall trust in the media through Media an Information Literacy (MIL) activities 7.Invest in technical innovation in order to foster resilience of the news and public interest media industry: b) Encourage media to invest in and develop new technologies for digital publishing, payments, privacy-conscious data collection, analytics, and advertising, b)Technology-focused support would help build broader coalitions within the European Parliament, the Commission, and European capitals This multidimensional approach aims to strengthen the European media ecosystem as an essential bulwark against foreign information manipulation and interference and disinformation, and as a pillar of a resilient democracy, in line with the objectives of the "European Democracy Shield" initiative. CFI also reiterates its full support as a member organisation to our joint input published by European Partnership for democracy https://epd.eu/content/uploads/2025/04/Joint-Input-for-the-European-Democracy-Shield-v7.pdf
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