ECREA has become a member of the Advisory Committee of the European Audiovisual Observatory, a decision which was greenlighted by the Observatory’s Executive Council in its Tbilisi meeting on 13 June this year.

ECREA represents a community of media and communication scholars across Europe, bringing together researchers and educators from a broad spectrum of universities, research, and educational institutions throughout various European regions. A significant portion of ECREA’s membership is devoted to exploring the audiovisual communication sector, including television, radio, film, post-broadcast television, video streaming platforms and podcasts, for example. This focus is particularly relevant to the work conducted by members of several ECREA sections, including Audience and Reception Studies, Digital Culture and Communication, Film Studies, Media Industries and Cultural Production, Radio and Sound, Television Studies, and Visual Cultures.

The Strasbourg-based Observatory is part of the Council of Europe. It functions as a clearing house for information about the audiovisual sector in Europe, covering film, television and on demand services from an economic and legal point of view. The information it produces is available in the form of publications, on-line reports, databases, and newsletters, almost all available free-of-charge at: www.obs.coe.int. The Observatory also shares its information via numerous conferences and conference presentations throughout the year. The Observatory’s Advisory Committee currently brings together 41 different European and international professional organisations representing the various branches of the audiovisual industries. Sectors such as film production, distribution, exhibition, public and private broadcasting, and the press are represented within this body. The Advisory Committee meets twice a year in order to inform the Observatory on the information needs and concerns of the various different branches of the audiovisual industries.

John Downey, ECREA president, stated that “an enriching and mutually beneficial exchange of academic data and research would now be possible between the members of ECREA and the Observatory.”

The European Audiovisual Observatory expressed enthusiasm about ECREA’s membership. "We welcome ECREA to our community," said Susanne Nikoltchev, Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory. "ECREA’s membership of our Advisory Committee is in line with the Observatory increased efforts to reach out to academic communities working within the audiovisual sphere.” She added that future exchanges could potentially “support our work to understand and make more transparent the general legislative and market structures that frame the European audiovisual sector."

Read the original post here: https://www.obs.coe.int/en/web/observatoire/-/ecrea-joins-the-advisory-committee-of-the-european-audiovisual-observatory