What We Do

Through research, teaching, and service, the Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies advocates for the right to free expression. 

Research

The Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies is a research center that will initiate projects related to media freedom issues using a variety of methodologies appropriate to the issues being studied. The center will produce both applied research and more theoretical, or abstract, studies about media rights.

The center also will:

• Help researchers from other units at IU or at other institutions find scholars and organizations for collaborative partnerships and help the researchers find funding agencies when needed.
• Work with non-governmental organizations on research projects that provide empirically analyzed information that will help support the organizations’ efforts to improve conditions for freedom of expression and access to information.

Teaching

The center will:

• Help match undergraduate and graduate students with internships at press freedom organizations in the United States and abroad. Students will produce content for the organizations’ publications and websites, help develop educational materials for journalists in developing democracies, and, in some cases, work with start-up media organizations in developing countries. The center also will help students find alternative funding for unpaid internships with the organizations.
• Work with various organizations in Indiana to develop materials and programs to educate K-12 students in the state about the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.
• Work with other organizations to develop curricula for journalism and mass communication programs at universities in the developing world. The center will also help facilitate faculty exchanges with those universities.

Service

The center will:

• Organize seminars examining various issues related to free expression from a global, national, or regional perspective, with panelists from the United States and other countries who are experts in their particular fields.
• Co-sponsor, with the school and other centers on the Bloomington campus, speakers who are experts on particular international free-expression issues.
• Work with the Indiana Coalition for Open Government (ICOG) and the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s Office (PAC) to educate the public, press, and public officials about the Indiana Access to Public Records Act and Open Door Law.
• Provide support, including membership maintenance and solicitation, website maintenance, and other clerical services for ICOG.