Natalie Fenton Wins the Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2026

Professor Natalie Fenton (Goldsmiths, University of London) has received the Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2026 for her monograph Democratic Delusions: How the Media Hollows Out Democracy and What We Can Do About It (Polity). A Special Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2026 has been granted to Sylwia Czubkowska for her book Bóg techy. Jak wielkie firmy technologiczne przejmują władzę nad Polską i światem (eng. The Tech Gods: How Big Tech Is Taking Control of Poland and the World) (Znak).

The Selection Committee recognized Natalie Fenton for her interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the relationship between media systems and contemporary democracy. The monograph challenges dominant assumptions about the role of media in democratic societies and proposes alternative models of media organization and ownership, including the concept of Media commons, pointing to directions for institutional reform and media policy.

Photo 1. Book cover of Democratic Delusions: How the Media Hollows Out Democracy and What We Can Do About It (source: Polity).

Natalie Fenton is Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy. Her research focuses on the relationship between media, democracy, and social change, with particular emphasis on media policy, journalism, and media system reform. She is the author of numerous publications in this field and a co-founder of the Media Reform Coalition.

Photo 2. Prof. Natalie Fenton (source: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian).

Moreover, the Selection Committee has granted the Special Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2026 to Sylwia Czubkowska for her book Bóg techy. Jak wielkie firmy technologiczne przejmują władzę nad Polską i światem (eng. The Tech Gods: How Big Tech Is Taking Control of Poland and the World) recognizing its insightful analysis of the influence of global technology corporations on the economy, politics, and democratic processes. According to the Committee, the publication highlights mechanisms of power concentration in the hands of digital monopolies and their consequences for user privacy, transparency of public life, and the functioning of democracy, contributing to public debate on platform regulation.

Photo 3. Book cover of Bóg techy. Jak wielkie firmy technologiczne przejmują władzę nad Polską i światem (eng. The Tech Gods: How Big Tech Is Taking Control of Poland and the World) (source: Znak).

The Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award recognizes original methodologies and the societal impact of scholarly publications in media systems, media policies, media ethics, and public service media in Central and Eastern Europe, and beyond. A full list of this year’s nominees can be found here.

The Award celebrates outstanding scholarly and journalistic work that deepens our understanding of media systems, media policy, media ethics, and public service media, especially in the context of their societal and democratic impact.

_{Authors: Dagmara Sidyk-Furman}

_{Cover image by: Maja Sosnowska}