Media pluralism, monitoring of Lebanon’s 2018 general election and the country’s 2020 broadcasting digital transition, were at the heart of a conference held in Beirut last week.

Organised on 18 September by the Conseil national de l’audiovisuel (CNA), Lebanon’s broadcasting regulator, with the support of the EU-funded MedMedia programme, the conference gathered over 80 participants from the Parliament, media outlets, universities, civil society and media development organisations.

In his opening remarks, Hassan Fadlalla, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Information and Communication, stressed the importance to set a clear regulatory framework for election media coverage, to foster pluralistic and constructive political debates in the media.

For her part, Julia Koch de Biolley, Deputy Head of Mission at the EU Delegation in Lebanon, reaffirmed the EU’s long-term commitment to supporting pluralism in Lebanon, hoping the CNA draft law – which would turn the consultative body into a strong and independent regulator – would soon be approved.

The EU-funded MedMedia project aims to create an enabling environment for media reforms in the Southern Mediterranean region. It is part of the €17 million EU programme “Media and culture for development in the Southern Mediterranean” which aims at supporting the media and culture reform processes in the region. MedMedia focuses on media legislation, regulation, programming, strategy and leadership with a view to helping state media fulfil their public service mandate and compete with the commercial sector.

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