Description
The basic idea of our application is to support the European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI), while our concrete aim is to gather the required amount of Hungarian signatures. Using this campaign we would like to address a very current challenge, namely the degradation of the freedom and the pluralism of the media, which can be observed in many European countries, including Hungary. The aim of this ECI is to draw the attention of the Hungarian public to this issue, and to show to the European political elite that Hungarians and Europeans are ready to stand up for these values. Besides the providers and the consumers of the Hungarian media, the successful implementation of our project is also in the interest of all of us who believe in democracy and media freedom. Throughout the project we are cooperating with several Hungarian and European NGOs, thus creating a European network of NGOs based on strengthening democratic values.
Summary of project results
In the framework of the project, the Liberal Youth Association (LYA) gathered signatures for 10 months in various cities of Hungary for the European Citizens' Initiative for Mediapluralism (ECI), while has organized a series of events focusing on the connection between culture, media and politics. The project was important in the light of the constant diminution of the quality of media freedom all around Europe and Hungary. The objective of the campaign was to raise awareness of this issue and to gather the sufficient amount of signatures. While the second aim is yet to be reached, statistics show that the Hungarian campaign (run by the LYA) was the most succcessful one in the framework of the present ECI. During the ten months of the project, it could reach approximately 1 million people in with an online and offline form. With the campaign on the internet the goal was raising the number of people who aware this issue with the campaign on the streets they tried to have deeper influence on people talking about the media's current situation. Besides this, they campaigned for the youth's political activity and involvment; for minorities, how to demand and claim consciously their rights, and for the majority of the society to be more tolerant and patient to minor issues Despite of the experienced lack of interest towards media freedom, the LYA has been able to reach a huge number of Hungarian citizens and to put a highlight on the issue, while important lessons have been learnt regarding the usability and effectivity of the ECI instrument.
Summary of bilateral results