The EurOMo (Euromedia Ownership Monitor) has a single mission: enhance transparency of news media ownership and control in European Union countries. The project is coordinated by Prof. Josef Trappel, a GMICP network researcher, and Dr. Tales Tomaz and is based at the University of Salzburg.
It monitors media ownership transparency in the 27 European member states by publishing:
- a database with information on ownership and control of a sample of news media in 27 EU countries which are most relevant for opinion shaping;
· 27 country reports that assess the level of transparency of this information,
- a comparative index evaluating the risks to media ownership transparency.
Currently, the EurOMo is a pilot project covering all EU member states. It is co-funded by the European Commission as part of the European Democracy Action Plan. The next step will be to constantly update national information and publish annual reports.
The monitoring instrument draws on the experience of the Euromedia Research Group (EMRG). This is a network of researchers based in EU Higher Education Institutions with over 30 years of experience in research and knowledge dissemination on media politics and economics in Europe and beyond, including the operationalisation of the Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM). The EMRG established the research consortium that now operates EurOMo.