Media and Journalism Research Center

The Media and Journalism Research Center produces scholarly and practice-oriented research about journalism, media freedom, and internet policy.

History and Network
The center was founded as the Center for Media and Communication Studies at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. It began in 2004, and was designed to serve as a focal point an international network of acclaimed scholars and academic institutions, whose research ranges from media and communications policy, fundamental communications rights through media and civil society and new media and digital technology to media in transition. In September 2014 it was relaunched as the Center for Media, Data and Society to represent new interests in technology policy, and big data. Media expert, journalist and scholar Marius Dragomir led the center starting in September 2016. Most of CMDS' projects are continued by the Media and Journalism Research Center, a research institute established by Marius Dragomir in October 2022 that is independent of CEU.

Projects and Mission
The center's research projects focused on identifying trends and challenges in the use of information technologies and advancing policy discussions about the regulation of data and media. The center had an annual summer school on activism and digital media that draws democracy advocates, media activists, and civil rights campaigners from around the world to discuss policy and strategy. Projects of CMDS included Creative Approaches to Living Cultural Archives, Ranking Digital Rights, Strengthening Journalism in Europe, Research on Violent Online Political Extremism.

The center was also known for its monitoring work on media policy in Central and Eastern Europe and Hungary in particular. Since its launch in 2017, the Media Influence Matrix project designed by Marius Dragomir expanded to over 50 countries. The center is also known for its research on media capture. Its last director, Marius Dragomir published studies that attempted to define and analyze the media capture phenomenon.

State Media Monitor
The State Media Monitor explores the nuances of different types of public and state media, including serving as a database that analyzes many outlets around the world based on factors like editorial independence, funding, and ownership/governance. 2024 State Media Monitor, including the evaluation of new sources, is planned for September.