About us
National collaboration platform for media innovation and democracy-related social research
Media & Democracy is a national, neutral collaboration platform for applied research and innovation with a focus on strengthening the media landscape and democracy. By bringing together actors from various sectors, new strategies and methods are explored to address both current and future challenges and opportunities.
Media & Democracy operates within three main areas:
Research and innovation projects
National and international initiatives and networks
Dissemination of new knowledge and applications
Sweden has a long history of being at the forefront of media and democracy development; in 1766, for example, the world’s first freedom of the press act was adopted. Today, the information and media landscape is undergoing historically rapid changes, and Media & Democracy operates at the intersection of these changes and their impact on democracy. By combining theory and practice in innovative projects, new strategies and methods are explored. The platform's work also includes media and information literacy (MIL) and initiatives to strengthen the information landscape and the role of independent journalism during crises. Results are presented through reports, seminars, webinars, and the Media & Democracy podcast.
In collaboration with AI Sweden, Media & Democracy has led the cross-sectoral platform Future of Democracy since 2021.
Here are some of Media & Democracy's milestones:
- Here are some of Media & Democracy's milestones:
- 2014: The initiative is born. Current Swedish media research is mapped out.
- 2015: Open workshops between the media industry and academia.
- 2016-2017: Feasibility study period funded by the Västra Götaland Region.
- 2017: Media & Democracy is established as a research and innovation program with the Västra Götaland Region as the main financier.
- 2018: The first research and innovation projects are carried out.
- 2019: Media & Democracy becomes the platform for a national pilot initiative in media-related AI innovation, funded by Vinnova and media companies Hall Media (Bonnier News Local), Stampen, and Sveriges Television.
- 2020: Borås Tidning is named Editorial Office of the Year, and the Media & Democracy projects Beta Borås 1 and Beta Borås 2 are seen as two contributing initiatives.
- 2020: Västra Götaland Region continues to finance the platform.
- 2021: International Youth Think Tank is added to Media & Democracy. The first Future of Democracy Summit is held at Lindholmen Science Park.
- 2022: Media & Democracy initiates groundbreaking research projects in Collaborative Journalism: Local Democracy in a Digital World and Strengthening Local Journalism in Crisis Situations. This genre involves collaboration between two or more news and information organizations, aiming to complement each organization's resources and maximize the impact of the produced content.
- 2023: The world's largest conference in investigative journalism – Global Investigative Journalism Conference – is held in Gothenburg. Media & Democracy is responsible for the pre-conference day at Lindholmen Science Park. The theme was innovative methods, collaboration, and AI as a journalistic tool.
- 2024: Hamrin Foundation joins Media & Democracy as one of the platform's main financiers. Media & Democracy takes a seat in MIK Sveriges network council, led by the Swedish Media Authority. The program establishes the national initiative Forum for Democratic Communication, and three research and innovation projects led and participated in by Media & Democracy are highlighted at one of the largest international research conferences in the field: European Communication Research and Education Association (Ecrea).
Media & Democracy is driven by Lindholmen Science Park and financed by Västra Götaland Region and the Hamrin Foundation. The initiative is also supported by Sweden's commercial media within Tidningsutgivarna (TU), public service companies Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio, Sweden’s leading media academies such as the University of Gothenburg, Jönköping University, Karlstad University, Linnaeus University, Mid Sweden University, and Södertörn University. Additionally, it is supported by international actors such as Nordicom and the global industry organization WAN-IFRA. Media & Democracy is part of GAMI, the Global Alliance for Media Innovation.
Media & Democracy's steering group consists of:
- Robert Olsson, Chair
- Anna Careborg, News and Sports Director, Sveriges Television
- Carl Heath, Senior Researcher RISE and PHD, Gothenburg university
- Bengt Johansson, Professor of Journalism and Media, University of Gothenburg
- Johan Löfvenholm, CEO, Lindholmen Science Park
- Anette Novak, Chair, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' Division for Information Technology, former Director General and Media Investigator
- Hanna Ståhl, CEO, Hamrin Foundation
- Johan Taubert, CEO, Tidningsutgivarna
- Jenny Wiik, Associate Professor of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg
- Martin Holmberg, Program Manager, Media & Democracy
Do you want to know more?
Martin Holmberg
Our innovation projects
The media industry and AI
Data- and AI-driven development is growing in importance and Media & Democracy is leading a national pilot initiative – The Media Industry and AI – together with three media groups and AI Sweden...
Audiovisual Days
2021
Audiovisual Days - formerly Västsvenska filmdagarna - has been organized for nine years and is broadly aimed at actors in moving image and audiovisual media. During two intensive days, participants...
Beta Borås: Younger News Universe for Local Community Journalism and Debate
What local community journalism attracts and is relevant for 25-35-year-olds? In 2018 a special test editorial staff at Borås Tidning studied the answers to the question.
Beta Borås: Younger News Universe for Local Community Journalism and Debate, stage 2
What local community journalism engages 25-35-year-olds and how ready is the target group to pay to consume it? From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, stage 2 of the unique and acclaimed research and...
Conflict Management, Dialogue and Reader Engagement in the New Media Landscape
The project is based on challenge-driven innovation and is financed externally by Vinnova. The focus of the first stage is to develop the project's idea and innovation and simultaneously plan how the...
Crossborder Journalism Campus, CJC
The project, which runs between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024, will develop a model for how students in investigative journalism at different universities in different countries can collaborate...
Crossborder Journalism Campus, CJC
The project, which runs between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024, will develop a model for how students in investigative journalism at different universities in different countries can collaborate...
Future of Democracy
Future of Democracy has been initiated and led by Media & Democracy and AI Sweden, Sweden's center for applied AI innovation. The focus is on the borderland between technology and democracy, with the...
International Youth Think Tank
The project was founded in 2018 and has been part of Lindholmen Science Park and Media & democracy since January 2021. The goal is to promote the democracy movement among 18-24-year-olds in Europe and...
Journalism and AI
Data-driven models and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being integrated into various industries, and journalism is no exception. Therefore, the Media Institute Fojo at Linnaeus...
Local democracy in a global world
In "Local democracy in a digital world", news media and libraries test experimentally whether and how new forms of collaboration can strengthen local news and knowledge dissemination and the...
Local editor 2.0
How should a journalist in a local editorial office work in an optimal way? How can the media create greater engagement and new forms of local journalism? These were the starting points for the...
Media citizens not exposed to traditional news media
In recent decades, research has indicated that more media users rarely or never consume social journalism. A trend that can have an impact on participation in society and on the media as a pillar of...
Strengthened local journalism in crises
The project aims to strengthen the conditions of local journalism in crises and wars; a democratic preparedness. In addition to Media & Democracy, the University of Gothenburg, Blekinge Läns Tidning...
The automation of journalism
Innovation, collaboration and knowledge management in the implementation of AI in news companies.
The Digital Media Landscape and the 2018 Local Election
How does the rapidly changing media landscape's affect local and regional elections? This was the subject of a study conducted by Medier & demokrati together with Mid Sweden University and Södertörn...
The Local Information Landscape in Crisis and War
The preliminary study The Local Information Landscape in Crisis and War explores the potential for new research and innovation on how local libraries and news media can strengthen access to verified...
Young citizens and the quality of news Construals, Emotions and Strategies
The project has an experimental design and investigates how younger news consumers view quality by mixing interviews with eye movement studies and measurement of emotions. The research project is led...
News flow
"We are happy to be able to qualify the discussion"
The Gothenburg book fair is approaching. Media & democracy hosts a seminar plus four program items at the Freedom of Expression Square. All five features are presented here.
Webbinarium: Hur tech startups driver AI-innovation för mediebranschen
Ett växande ekosystem av nystartade företag levererar AI-lösningar till nyhetsmedier, det framkommer i Medier & demokrati-projektet Automatiseringen av journalistiken. I ett webbinarium den 17...
Johan Löfvenholm appointed new CEO of Lindholmen Science Park
The board of Lindholmen Science Park AB has appointed Johan Löfvenholm as the new CEO of the company. With extensive experience in the automotive industry, he will begin his new role in August...
"Several had not seen a battery-powered radio"
During Preparedness Week, Blekinge Läns Tidning and the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization (Lottakåren) set out to engage with high school students to discuss preparedness. This successful...
Record Number of Applicants for IYTT's Youth Conference
The International Youth Think Tank (IYTT) is celebrating its fifth anniversary with an achievement. A total of 540 young individuals from 68 countries have applied to participate in this year's...
Record Interest in Global Media Conference at Lindholmen
In September, the world's largest conference on investigative journalism will be held in Gothenburg. It is now clear that there is record interest in the pre-conference of the first day, organized by...
Save the date to Audiovisual Days 2023
Audiovisual Days are back at Lindholmen Science Park 8-10 November 2023. There will be three days of lectures, panel discussions and workshops on sound-based and visual storytelling - and Media &...
The M&D podcast is now available on Spotify
Now we are making the Media & Democracy podcast more accessible. Follow the podcast on Spotify so you don't miss new episodes about current media innovation and democracy-related social research.
"It has never felt so relevant to talk about technology development and democracy"
29-30 May, the third Future of Democracy Summit was held. 150 leaders gathered at Lindholmen Science Park to discuss modernization, new technology and democracy. Here are project manager Karin...
Application open for IYTT's fifth youth conference
In November, the International Youth Think Tank (IYTT) organized its fifth youth conference. The previous four have been held in Gothenburg, but starting this year the conference will be held in...
"Committed participants who are passionate about democracy"
The project Strengthened local journalism in crisis situations is underway at newsrooms in Blekinge and Värmland. Linus Carle, editor-in-chief at Arvika news, shares what their collaboration with...
This is how Aftonbladet and Sveriges Radio work with AI
In a short time, AI has gone from present to burning in the news media. In the Medier & demokrati podcast episode 16, Martin Schori, Aftonbladet, and Olle Zachrison, Sveriges Radio, talk about what...
