Press Freedom, Press Regulation, and the Public Sphere in a Changed Media Ecosystem

Abstract

Journalism has changed. The internet and social media have altered the media ecology beyond recognition by enabling new actors to enter the media marketplace, and by changing the way that news is generated, published, and consumed. On the one hand, these changes have had a profound effect on the viability of the traditional institutional press and on the extent to which journalists operating within the industry’s typical corporate institutional structure are able to discharge the ‘watchdog’ role and contribute positively to the public sphere. To the contrary, the digital revolution has removed many of the financial and institutional barriers to news generation, publication, and consumption, and has provided the technological architecture and environment for independent and citizen journalism to flourish. 

This new breed of journalist are no longer outliers of free speech. Rather, they are central to how we communicate – and importantly, because of their independence, they are able to operate outside of many of the institutional and corporate restraints that restrict mainstream journalists and can therefore report on and publish diverse public interest content that journalists operating within a corporate structure may be reluctant or unable to provide. Thus, they are increasingly critical to the health and prosperity of our public sphere – very often stepping into the watchdog shoes of the mainstream press.  

However, this paradigm-shift in journalism, and how journalism is defined and practised, brings challenges to the publishers themselves, regulators and regulation, the law, and the public. In this public lecture, Dr Peter Coe draws on his recently published book (Media Freedom in the Age of Citizen Journalism), to explore some of these challenges and how they can be tackled. 

This lecture is free and open to all. Registration is not required to attend in person.