The EU Centre at RMIT University with the School of Media and Communication (RMIT) and Media and Democracy in Eastern Europe Research Project (MDCEE) (University of Oxford, UK) invite you to attend the Centre's inaugural annual conference entitled Media, Communication and Democracy: Global and National Environments.

The Treaty of Lisbon, adopted in December 2009, has marked a significant development in the European Union’s approach to external affairs. The European Union has been at the forefront of debate and legislative action about democracy, and about establishing common principles in relation to rights and democratic processes, especially with the ongoing expansion of the number of Member States in the Union. In the wake of Wikileaks, it is apparent that the role of media and communications in democratic processes is more important than ever.

Panels, papers and debate will focus on media, communication and democracy in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, the Asia Pacific region, Latin America or Africa, as well as the established areas of Europe and Australia. In a world of regular, unforeseen crises and growing power of media owners, online and otherwise, various questions about the implications for democratic processes will be explored.

Key participants will include Professor Paolo Mancini, Associate Professor Ingrid Volkmer, Professor Jan Zielonka and Professor Stephanie Hemelryk Donald.

The conference to run over two days, Thursday 1 and Friday 2 September 2011, will be held in Storey Hall at the city campus of RMIT University, Swanston Street, Melbourne. An opening lecture and registration will be held at the State Library of Victoria in the evening of Wednesday 31 August.

Conference Topics

• Class, property, markets and money: the social environment of communication and democrac;
• Re-thinking the relations between media and democracy: institutions, organizations, representations, scales of governmen;
• The changing practices and relations of journalism: towards democratic affordances?

For more information about the conference please see the flyer below or visit the EU Centre Website