Brussels event invites journalists, researchers, and media professionals for debates and practical workshops.
The European research project MeDeMAP – Mapping Media for Future Democracies (HE 101094984) will hold a seminar on the relationship between media, data, and democracy on 13 January 2026 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The seminar “Mapping Media for Future Democracies” runs from 14:00 to 17:30 at the Learning and Innovation Center (LIC) of VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels (Belgium). Journalists, researchers, NGOs, and media professionals will discuss evidence-based approaches to democratic information environments in Europe.
The event consists of two sessions. Registration is required separately for each session. Participants may attend both.
The first session is titled Journalism and Democracy – A Debate and brings together journalists, civil society representatives, and academics to debate journalism’s role in democracy. The speakers will be:
- François Heinderyckx, Professor of Media Studies and Political Communication, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
- Renate Schroeder, Director, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
- Donato Bendicenti, RAI Correspondent in Brussels
- Jeffrey Wimmer, Professor of Communication Sciences, University of Augsburg, and MeDeMAP Researcher, Charles University, Prague
- Stef Arends, Editor in Chief, Kif Kif
The session will be chaired by Andrea Miconi, Professor of Media Sociology, IULM University (Milan), and MeDeMAP Italian team coordinator.
To register for the first session, please use this form.
The second session will take the form of a workshop and present the MeDeMAP multi-layer map of European political information environments. During the session Mapping European Political Information Environments: A workshop, participants will work with the spatial data interface that provides quantitative information on these environments. The session will be chaired by Josef Seethaler, Leader of the Research Group “Media, Politics & Democracy” at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and MeDeMAP Principal Investigator. The invited speakers are:
- David F. J. Campbell, Professor for Comparative Political Science, University of Vienna
- Beata Klimkiewicz, Professor, Institute for Journalism, Media and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Cracow
To register for the second session, please use this form.