Media and Journalism Research Center

Media and Journalism Research Center
Formation	2004; 21 years ago
Type	Research center
Director	Marius Dragomir
Website	journalismresearch.org
Formerly called	Center for Media, Data and Society (2014-2022); Center for Media and Communication Studies (2004-2014)

The Media and Journalism Research Center is a think tank that produces scholarly and practice-oriented research about journalism, media freedom, and internet policy. The organization maintains a cooperation agreement with the University of Santiago de Compostela.^[1]

History

The center was founded as the Center for Media and Communication Studies at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. It began in 2004, and was designed to serve as a focal point an international network^{[citation needed]} of acclaimed scholars and academic institutions, whose research ranges from media and communications policy, fundamental communications rights through media and civil society and new media and digital technology to media in transition. In September 2014 it was relaunched as the Center for Media, Data and Society^[2] to represent new interests in technology policy, and big data.^[3] Media expert, journalist and scholar Marius Dragomir led the center starting in September 2016.^[4] Most of CMDS' projects are continued by the Media and Journalism Research Center, a research institute established by Marius Dragomir in October 2022 that is independent of CEU.^[5]

Projects and Mission

The center's research projects focused on identifying trends and challenges in the use of information technologies and advancing policy discussions about the regulation of data and media. The center had an annual summer school on activism and digital media that draws democracy advocates, media activists, and civil rights campaigners from around the world to discuss policy and strategy^[when?]. Projects of CMDS included Creative Approaches to Living Cultural Archives,^[6] Ranking Digital Rights,^[7] Strengthening Journalism in Europe,^[8] Research on Violent Online Political Extremism.^{[citation needed]}

The center was also known for its monitoring work on media policy in Central and Eastern Europe and Hungary in particular.^[9] Since its launch in 2017, the Media Influence Matrix project designed by Marius Dragomir expanded to over 50 countries.^[10] The center is also known for its research on media capture. Its last director, Marius Dragomir published studies that attempted to define^[11] and analyze^[12] the media capture phenomenon.

State Media Monitor

The State Media Monitor explores the nuances of different types of public and state media, including serving as a database that analyzes many outlets around the world based on factors like editorial independence, funding, and ownership/governance.^[10] The 2024 State Media Monitor list, including the evaluation of new sources, was released in September.^[13]

State Media Monitor ratings^[14]
Rating	Official description	Funding	Governance	Editorial control
Independent public (IP)	Public service media whose funding and governing mechanisms are designed in such a way as to fully insulate them from government interference.	No	No	No
Independent state-funded (ISF)	Public service media whose main funding source is the state, which, however, does not own them or control their governing bodies, and does not attempt to control their editorial agenda.	Yes	No	No
Independent state-managed/state-owned (ISM)	Public service media not predominantly funded from state budget resources that are either owned by the state or whose governing bodies are controlled by the government, which, however, does not attempt to control their editorial agenda.	No	Yes	No
Independent state-funded and state-managed (ISFM)	Public service media whose main funding source is the state, which owns them or controls their governing bodies, without, however, attempting to control their editorial agenda.	Yes	Yes	No
Captured private (CaPr)	Privately owned media outlets dependent to a large degree on the government for funding or other privileges (i.e. state advertising or public procurement contracts for other businesses run by their owners).	Maybe	No	Yes
Captured public/state-managed (CaPu)	Public service or state-owned media not predominantly financed through state budget resources, where the state is using its status as owner and/or its control over the management of these outlets to influence their editorial agenda.	No	Yes	Yes
State-controlled (SC)	State media created as propaganda channels, typical for authoritarian regimes, or failed public media in which the government retains a major role, funding and owning them, controlling their management and closely supervising their editorial agenda.	Yes	Yes	Yes

References

^ "Contact - Media and Journalism Research Center". 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
^ "Name change". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
^ "Mission of CMDS". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
^ "Marius Dragomir Appointed Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society | CMDS". cmds.ceu.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
^ "About". MJRC. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2014-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Ranking Digital Rights - Funders and Partners". Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2022-06-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Hungary's Crackdown on the Press". New York Times. September 8, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Project Summary - State Media Monitor". 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
^ "MDIF publishes report on media capture in Europe – MDIF". 21 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
^ International Media Development. Peter Lang. 2019. pp. 93–104. ISBN 978-1-4331-5150-7.
^ "State Media Monitor – The world's state and public media database". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
^ "Typology – State Media Monitor". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2025-01-21.

External links

Official website

[1] "Contact - Media and Journalism Research Center". 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[2] "Name change". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.

[3] "Mission of CMDS". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.

[4] "Marius Dragomir Appointed Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society | CMDS". cmds.ceu.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-08.

[5] "About". MJRC. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-26.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2014-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] "Ranking Digital Rights - Funders and Partners". Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2014-12-22.

[8] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2022-06-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[9] "Hungary's Crackdown on the Press". New York Times. September 8, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.

[:0-10] "Project Summary - State Media Monitor". 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2024-02-28.

[11] "MDIF publishes report on media capture in Europe – MDIF". 21 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-12.

[12] International Media Development. Peter Lang. 2019. pp. 93–104. ISBN 978-1-4331-5150-7.

[13] "State Media Monitor – The world's state and public media database". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2024-06-24.

[14] "Typology – State Media Monitor". statemediamonitor.com. Retrieved 2025-01-21.

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