We have different sectors of the media? We have different sectors within which those media usually function. What is the commercial sector? So the commercial sector, private sector is usually composed of the media that make a profit offering news service or information to their audiences. In addition, we have in most European countries the tradition of public service, which is a sort of European specificity. But of course, since 20th of 20th century, when public service developed very rapidly in many European countries. This model was also somehow transposed in other countries in the world. So public service is, or are generally the media, which are funded by citizens themselves, usually through license fees or some forms of taxation or state subsidy. and they function under certain regulatory circumstances that guarantee that public service media will offer public service remit, so certain type of content and services that serve users, citizens. So this is the normative kind of definition of public service media. And then we have also the third sector media, non-profit sector, which is composed of the media functioning in a very close cooperation with users or with audiences, meaning that quite often the users themselves produce the programming on those kind of media, so they have a status of community type of media serving smaller communities that are often overlooked by the mainstream and larger media institutions. So these three sectors are usually composing physically media systems. What is regulation? Regulation is the set of laws, but also a set of certain practices that makes the media function in certain ways. So, for instance, in some countries there might be very strong regulation of public service media that provides that these media are independent and they serve very well the users. But we may also have systems where this kind of regulation is lacking or not developed very well. And I think what is also very important is a certain culture of media production, which is very important, particularly when we speak about the news journalism. Also this professionalism, which is practising in the media is different from country to country, from system to system. So there are traditions of different forms of media professionalism. There are different ways how to do journalism. This is culturally also, and historically also determined. What else we can mention? Cultural factors, which I just mentioned, because some countries are more culturally diverse. So the way how the media are organized is different in those countries as well. And then, of course, is also the issue of political pressures, which is this relationship between the media system and the political demand, which is also different. Yeah. With the role of the state, which might be much more prominent in certain countries than in other countries. So there are some media systems with very strong role of the state, also manifested in state ownership of the media or some practices that try to control public service media. This also makes a difference from country to country. The media should provide accurate information. Real, true, accurate information, reliable information. The second such important function and role for democracy is providing forum for the debate. So the different views and opinions are debated in such a way that probably public opinion can be formed and act as a political will, which is also quite important for democracies, is the watchdog function or controlling function, meaning that the media are here to provide us information about those in power, and they have this controlling kind of effect overseeing the actions of politicians and and those in power right exposing somehow all wrongdoings in in in societies so this this watchdog help us then be better informed as citizens and probably make decisions during the elections. I would start with certain standards of production of information or content, which is the standards of professional journalism. And there are such standards in all news organizations going through checking, going through composing certain fragments of text that are prepared for users. If those kind of standards would be fully respected today, we wouldn't have such many problems with unchecked content and different forms of information. The other issue is, I think, a sort of diversity of the mandate within which the media function. We need private media, certainly, those media that make a profit, because they can be independent from the politics to a certain extent, and also from the influences of the state, right? We also need some other media, particularly non-profit media, to represent communities they usually serve. So keeping those sectors in a sort of balance can also help to somehow sustain these pro-democratic functions of the media, to have this kind of balanced model. And I think that what is certainly very important is media literacy, because without educating particularly younger users about specificities of credible information sources and the way how they work, how they function, it's also hard to imagine that the future will look different. So these are three basic elements and I think the regulation can support this kind of arrangement of media system in many ways. And there are of course some non-negotiables which I think are very important to keep in mind because we are living in a world where nothing is taken for granted or cannot be taken for granted. So these are of course guarantees for warranties for basic freedom freedom of expression freedom of the media particularly and particularly recognizing the media as institutions when we say freedom of expression because some forms of expression may discriminate may hurt you know, the others. So to be sure, yeah, that those kind of freedoms, particularly of professional journalists and their right to produce content, is protected. The next thing which I found really, really important is to make some legal changes that make journalists better protected, particularly against slaps, against legal suits, against threats coming from both private companies, but also political system. And I think it's really necessary to assure that journalists are much more free to actually conduct particularly this watchdog function without those legal threats undermining their everyday work. It's very difficult. I mean, we had today chief editor of WONAT, the leading news portal in Poland, who said that during his position, he attended 350 legal processes. Yeah, he was in. I think it's unimaginable. Yeah, so this is really important to ensure protection of journalists. The next thing which I think is really important is to provide really access to public information, which is in law, guaranteed of course, and it's there but there are some situations many of them where this this right is denied to journalists and and also quite ironically during the situation of great crisis like was a pandemic yeah of19, this is even more abused. And these are the times, I mean, in crisis, where journalists are even more needed, not less needed, so the access is or should be provided directly. And finally, this is really important, I almost forgot about, a legal recognition and not only of community media and non-profit sector, which is not formally recognized, although initiatives along the way. Many different models in place but nothing really came through. I mean it was implemented in practice so community media are not recognized as a non-profit different sector that needs probably some other solutions than now. And this is also something that needs support. When we are speaking about the Watchdog function, about providing reliable information, building this credibility and trust in the media, a condition that supports it is transparency, whether we speak about transparency of media ownership, but also some kind of accountability, transparency of sharing, for instance, standards of production by journalists with users, which also helps to understand what their work is about. This is also showing that the content they come with and they share is not by chance as it is yeah that it's product of certain uh way of dealing with it yeah and to be transparent about it to be transparent about ownership to be transparent about funding is something that strengthens credibility of the media themselves. This might be done. I mean, when I speak about transparency on a voluntary basis, it doesn't need to be legally regulated. But if it's not, if it's not, and if there is a problem with with great opacity of this kind of information perhaps regulation can help.