A collection of reports, entitled Media freedom and independence in 14 European countries: A comparative perspective, has just been published. The reports focus on a comparative analysis of the most pertinent questions and key issue areas for media freedom and independence across the MEDIADEM countries. Based on the project’s empirical research, these reports examine and analyse the contribution (or not) of different media policy patterns to the promotion of free and independent media. The reports address:

a) the freedom and independence of public service media in the MEDIADEM countries;

b) the relationship between politics and the media in five Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Romania and Slovakia;

c) trends and policy approaches pertaining to new media services in the MEDIADEM countries;

d) the professional autonomy in journalism as a factor for safeguarding freedom of expression in the MEDIADEM countries; and

e) the role of the European courts in shaping media policies in the MEDIADEM countries.

MEDIADEM’s comparative output also comprises a report entitled The regulatory quest for free and independent media. This report examines the different forms of media regulation currently in place in the fourteen countries covered by the MEDIADEM project with a view to identifying common patterns, best practices and emerging problems. The report adopts an integrated notion of media, including digital media, and examines: a) different levels of regulation (national and European regulatory processes, stemming from both the European Union and the Council of Europe); and b) various forms of regulation (public and private regulation, hybrids thereof, and multiple institutional and governance arrangements).