By Laurence Monnot, COMMIT
On 25 June 2025, the Austrian Citizens’ Parliament on Media and Democracy presented its 50 resolutions. Representatives from the media and from media and education policy responded in a panel discussion at the Vienna Concordia Press Club.
„Strong democracy requires diverse media that meet the democratic, social, and cultural needs of citizens,“ postulates the final report of the Austrian Citizens’ Parliament on Media and Democracy. On 25 June 2025, COMMIT organized a public presentation event at the Concordia Press Club in Vienna under the title „Democracy, Media and Trust“.
Three representatives of the Citizens’ Parliament (CP) provided insights into the 50 resolutions the members had jointly developed and adopted in four full-day meetings from March to May 2025. Representatives from the media and from media and education policy responded to the demands in a subsequent panel discussion.
Afterward, an interested audience of more than 70 people from politics, journalism, and civil society, including 14 of the 20 Citizens’ Parliament members, had a lively discussion.
50 resolutions for media and education policies
The three CP representatives, Andreas Mutschlechner, Karin Aringer, and Dietmar Csitkovics, had been elected by the other members to present the results of the Citizens’ Parliament. They presented their highlights from a total of 50 resolutions adopted. „Only the diversity of media gives me the chance to form an opinion,“ Andreas Mutschlechner explained in his statement. He therefore considers it particularly important to strengthen the diversity of content and to promote community media.
„Media should contribute to the public democratic debate,“ said Karin Aringer. The Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport is therefore asked to „promote innovative formats in the media that clearly and transparently present the democratic decision-making process of legislation“. For Dietmar Csitkovics, media education plays a key role. It should be open to all and consequently be promoted by politics, the media, and adult education organizations.
Politics, media and education are in charge
To discuss the demands of the Citizens‘ Parliament with the CP members and the public, COMMIT invited a high-profile panel with representatives from the media and from media and education policy.
Answer Lang, in charge of Media Policy in the Vice Chancellor’s Cabinet, commented on the question of state funding and its link with quality criteria: „Media funding should contribute to preserving media diversity in Austria. The Federal Government is gearing its media policy towards this.“ The resolutions of the Citizens’ Parliament represent an important input in this regard. For Konrad Mitschka of ORF Public Value, „the Citizens’ Parliament’s demand to show diversity is a core concern for the public service broadcaster.“ The aim is to „offer diversity of formats, content, and actors in all programs” and to act as a medium representing the whole society.
On the media side, the Managing Director of the Austrian Press Council, Alexander Warzilek, who had also accompanied the Citizens‘ Parliament as a member of the advisory board, was willing to discuss the proposal to initiate a referendum on media quality: „We are open to cooperation.“ He also underlined the support for media education projects: „Like for the Citizens‘ Parliament, media education is a major concern for us. In this context, we can build on role playing games of the Press Council in schools, which were developed as part of a project funded by the European Commission.“
Alexandra Parragh of the Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research emphasized the link between media literacy, democracy and science education in adult education, for which new funding opportunities have been opened up.
Kristina Mandl, representing the Federal Ministry of Education, announced the introduction of a new school subject „democracy education“ and the extension of the subject „digital basic education“ to the upper level of all school types.
Citizens’ parliaments as instruments of participation in democracy
For the 20 members of the Citizens’ Parliament, participating in the shaping of media policy was an exciting and instructive democratic experience: „I felt like I was contributing„, stated CP member Karin Aringer. The exchanges with the other participants have increased the level of the discussions, said Andreas Mutschlechner: “Despite very different views, it was possible to identify important starting points together”. „What was fascinating was that topics that preoccupied me privately, such as social media or the media landscape, also moved others in many aspects of life,“ Karin Aringer added.
The ERSTE Foundation and the „European Capital of Democracy“ Vienna, which have financially supported the Citizens’ Parliament for Media and Democracy, also appreciated the „innovative value“ of the Citizens’ Parliament. Wenke Hertzsch, Head of Unit of the Vienna Office for Participation, said in her opening words: „Citizens’ parliaments create spaces for democratic debate and enable access to democracy education.“ In addition, Vienna as a municipality is also addressed by the resolutions of the Citizens’ Parliament, Hertzsch said.
„Without reliable information and fact-based reporting, there can be no functioning democracy,“ Maribel Koeniger of the ERSTE Foundation emphasized in her opening remarks, noting the importance of the topic at European level as well.
As Helmut Peissl, Managing Director of COMMIT, explained in his opening and closing remarks, Citizens’ Parliaments on media and democracy also took place in three partner countries of the EU research project MeDeMAP in parallel with the Austrian CP. The results of all four European citizens’ parliaments will be presented on 24 September, in a panel discussion on „Citizens’ Parliaments – Lessons for Democratic Innovation“ at the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten. The panel discussion will also be streamed online.
The report of the Austrian Citizens’ Parliament on media and democracy, with all resolutions, can be downloaded from the COMMIT website (in German). Printed brochures can be ordered at medemap@commit.at
The audio recording of the event can be viewed at the Cultural Broadcasting Archive (CBA).