Five Publications Nominated for the Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2026

Five outstanding scholarly publications have been shortlisted for the 2026 edition of the Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award.

On March 30, 2026, the Selection Committee reviewed publications submitted for this year’s edition of the Award. Monographs and scholarly articles were nominated by members of the Leadership Team of the International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR), Editors, and Associate Editors of “Central European Journal of Communication” (CEJC), previous Award winners, and members of the Selection Committee.

The Committee evaluated the submissions according to three criteria:

• originality and methodological rigor, 
• contribution to media and democracy scholarship,
• potential impact on media policy and public debate. 

The following publications have been nominated for the 2026 Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award:

• Péter Bajomi-Lázár & Dalma Boldog (2026). Journalism ethics in Eastern Europe. Anthem Press. 
• Nico Carpentier & Jeffrey Wimmer (2025). Democracy and media in Europe: A discursive-material approach. Taylor & Francis.
• Natalie Fenton (2025). Democratic delusions: How the media hollows out democracy and what we can do about it. Polity. 
• Filip Trbojević, Peter Berglez, Dina Vozab, Mart Ots & Zrinjka Peruško (2025). Quality of journalism and media freedom in Europe: The fsQCA approach. Central European Journal of Communication, Vol. 18 No. 1(39).
• Marína Urbániková, Klára Smejkal, Iveta Jansová & Lenka Waschková Císařová (2026). Reimagining public service media: Navigating change and exploring public consensus in the Czech Republic. Routledge. 

The Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award, established in 2018 by Małgorzata Semil-Jakubowicz in cooperation with the Polish Communication Association, honors significant research addressing media systems, media policy, media ethics, public service media, and their role in democratic societies. For more information, please visit the Polish Communication Association’s website.

The winner of the 2026 Award will be announced on April 28, the anniversary of the passing of Karol Jakubowicz.

On behalf of the Selection Committee and the Central European Journal of Communication, we warmly congratulate all nominees.  

_{Authors: Dagmara Sidyk-Furman}

_{Cover image by: Maja Sosnowska}