“A democratic society needs a pluralistic media landscape of which local and regional media are an integral part”, declared the Vice-President of the Congress and Rapporteur on local and regional media, Cecilia Dalman Eek (Sweden, SOC/PD) during an exchange with the members of the Steering Committee meeting on Media and Information Society, held on 7 December 2022 in Strasbourg, France.

“Local and regional media can be allies to strengthen democracy, but many of them are in difficult situation and cannot fully play their role as watchdogs of democracy’, she warned, underlining the role of local and regional media in providing information to citizens and holding local and regional authorities accountable.

“As mayors, city councillors and regional representatives, we have a responsibility to ensure that our citizens can access reliable information about what is happening in their communities,” the Congress rapporteur stressed, referring to a new report under preparation in the Congress Current Affairs Committee on how to strengthen and contribute to the independence of subnational media.

“The work of the Congress is a part of the larger effort of the Council of Europe to strengthen local and regional democracy.”, she concluded mentioning the Council of Europe’s work on media governance, notably the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation (2022)4 and Recommendation (2022)11.