ICSJ Brings Czech Citizen Parliament Insights to the European Parliament

The MeDeMAP project, which organised the first Czech Citizens’ Parliament on Media and Democracy in 2025, entered its final phase with two events held on 13 January in Brussels. The morning seminar, entitled Regulating Media for Future Democracies: Political Voice and Public Voice, took place at the European Parliament and featured two roundtable discussions. The first focused on the next steps following the adoption of the EU Media Freedom Act (EMFA), while the second explored ways in which European citizens can contribute to the shaping of EU media policy. This second roundtable drew on insights from citizens’ parliaments organised within the MeDeMAP project in Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Slovenia, and included a discussion with Members of the European Parliament.

In the afternoon, the seminar Mapping Media for Future Democracies took place at the Learning and Innovation Centre of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The programme included a debate on the relationship between journalism and democracy, followed by a hands-on workshop presenting a multi-layered map of European political information environments developed within the MeDeMAP project. The event was attended by journalists, researchers and representatives of civil society.

Researchers from the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism (ICSJ) at Charles University actively participated in both events. The ICSJ delegation included Nico Carpentier, Vaia Doudaki, Miloš Hroch, Kemal Dağdelen, Karolína Šimková, and Jeffrey Wimmer, who contributed to the discussions and presented findings from the Czech Citizen Parliament. These events marked an important step in sharing MeDeMAP’s research outputs with policymakers and practitioners, with further dissemination activities planned as the project approaches completion.

The MeDeMAP project is funded by the European Union.