7 Amendments of Morten MESSERSCHMIDT related to 2017/2209(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that access to quality, free and independent information is a fundamental human right, that media pluralism is, political and intellectual, is one of the pillars of democracy and that the media’s independence from political and economicexternal powers and influences of any kind must be guaranteed accordingly;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. RecallInsists that the formation of public opinion is based upon a social pact between citizens and media professionals aimed at influencing those in power for the purposes of general interesreasons for the growing public mistrust of media should be openly and seriously sought; notes with the gravest concern that the financing system for the press has collapsed, resulting in dominant media players using information to pursue political and commercial propaganda objectives, thereby dramatically lowering the quality of information and giving rise to phenomena such as ‘fake news’, sensationalism, ideological and personal bias;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that online media pluralism is under serious threat from the excessive concentration of corporate power which raises in particular the issue of editorial independence in a highly concentrated media universe and in several countries the collusion between interests of the media industry and politics; asks the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to overcome regulatory deficiencies in order to create legal clarity and consistency to ensure media freedom, that is to say free from any kind of external pressures or influences, and prevent the abuse of their dominant position by media and web giants;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to lead by example of respect for the freedom and the independence of journalists, which henceforth implies to refrain from subsidising guidelines telling them how to handle such and such a topic, as for instance a “Reporting on migration and minorities – approach and guidelines”, from supporting “training” activities, biased seminars or trips for journalists, and more generally any propaganda operation that non only doesn’t increase the popularity of the EU but undermines the dignity of the profession and a pillar of democracy;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Stresses that media pluralism and quality of information are also under threat when free competition is distorted by certain practices :in that regard, Public Service Media have a particular obligation not to disrupt private media’s work, for instance by copying on their websites the content of private media ;encourages the Commission to look into this issue to ensure that publicly funded media do not act in a way that can violate the competition rules through its public funding ;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that a critical use of media content is essential to people’s understanding of current issues and to their contribution to public life; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to promote and support media literacy projects, as well as to lead by example in how to guarantee/ensure a healthy relationship between EU officials and journalists without feeding into the ethical disbalance, which implies that guidelines, seminars and invited groups of journalists supported by EU funds are addressed only with factual and unbiased information about the EU, while opinions about EU’s future and policies shall during these seminars and trips only be conveyed by MEPs representing the different political groups in the Parliament.