Eurocrisis and the Media: Preserving or Undermining Democracy?

The conflicts at the core of the Eurocrisis increasingly reflect competing world views and ideologies that are difficult to reconcile. Crucially, the gulf between what is economically required and what is socially and democratically acceptable is widening. Central to the crisis, both in terms of offering core mediating capacities and of providing the public stage for the crisis conflicts, are the EU media spheres- new and old media, offline and online, news and social. We approach the complex relationship between the crisis in the EU, media and democracy from three interrelated perspectives: 1) media as the legal and institutional guarantee of free speech and information, 2) media as the primary arena of public opinion, and 3) media as the facilitator of civic engagement. Drawing on normative and empirical research, we first collect evidence for the direct effects of crisis on media institutions and their functioning in democracy. We subsequently analyze the politics of public discourse in Europe and its mediating effects on crisis perceptions, responses and democratic legitimacy. Lastly, we assess available evidence for how the media can empower EU citizens affected by the Eurocrisis and help them to develop capacities of resilience. These latter are often linked to new media and social media practices with a potential to open new transnational spaces of political contestation and legitimation.