Maria Michalis elected as Vice-Chair of the MeCCSA Policy Network

Maria Michalis was elected Vice-Chair of the MeCCSA Policy Network, at the recent conference of the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association. The aim of the network is to exchange ideas and research findings, and to participate in debates with civil society, industry, regulators, and policy makers.

Michalis also closed out 2019 by giving a presentation at the “Newsocracy: Protect PSM from Political Interference” conference organised by the European Centre for Press & Media Freedoms (ECPMF), in Budapest Hungary. She spoke about the challenges and threats that public service media face everywhere, even in countries with long traditions of PSM, and stressed the need for strong political support and independent regulation.

This is was one of the main points she made in her submission to the House of Lords Inquiry into “Public Service Broadcasting in the Age of Video on Demand.” Another of her points, the concern that global subscription Video On Demand players, like Netflix and Amazon, target the global market and prioritise content that lacks national specificities was mentioned in the context of UK TV production in the final report by House of Lords Select Committee “Public Service Broadcasting: As Vital as Ever.”