The Media Policy Project unveils today the Media Policy Planner, a new website and tool offering a free and accessible way for anyone to understand and participate in the decisions politicians make about the media.

The Planner gives you an easy-to-access database of experts by subject area, event calendars, resources on important media topics, and lists of ongoing media policy consultations as part of our focus on bringing quality independent research to policy debates, and facilitating conversations between policymakers, civil society, and media professionals.

The Planner covers current UK and European media policy debates and a wide range of media policy topics, including: press ethics, copyright and intellectual property, data protection, child safety online, net neutrality, competition, broadband access, and spectrum allocation. Journalists, policymakers, researchers, civil society activists, or curious citizens can find and contact experts, subscribe to follow topics that interest them, access the latest news and research, and keep track of important events.

Media policy matters. The decisions we make in the UK and Europe on pressing media policy topics will impact our access to information, the health of our democracy, our privacy and security, and other crucial aspects of our lives for many years to come. Yet as Leveson showed, policy decisions are often made in an atmosphere of back scratching and inappropriate conflicts of interest.  Our hope for the Planner is that it will make it easier than ever before to help people find the resources they need to engage with these important issues.

The Media Policy Planner was made possible to the generous support from the Higher Education and Innovation Fund (HEIF), with additional support from the Open Society Foundation. The Planner can be accessed at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/media-policy-planner/ or by visiting the Media Policy Project blog: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/.