Sally is Associate Professor of Communications Policy and Politics at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where she is also a member of the Centre for Competition Policy and Academic Co-Director at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE). Her research draws on fundamental rights, concepts of harm, and normative understandings of the role of media and communication technologies in society – particularly within the contexts of democracy and politics. She is also deeply engaged with broader questions concerning governance and regulatory design. Her most recent work focuses on the operationalisation of the concept of systemic risk in EU digital regulation and the implementation and monitoring of systemic risk management by digital services. 

Before entering academia in 2009 Sally spent more than a decade in international organisations running media related projects in Southeast Europe, including five years spent as Head of Media Development for the OSCE Mission to Skopje leading projects to facilitate the approximation of domestic legislation to European norms, develop the capacity of national regulators, and reform the public broadcaster. She continues to serve as an occasional expert for the EU and the Council of Europe (CoE), as well for regulatory authorities in various countries.  

Your work explores the intersection of media, democracy, and governance. What do you see as the key challenges ahead for media policy in safeguarding democratic values?

“One of the key challenges is that it is not only about just media policy per se. Media policy has always cut across issues of fundamental rights and market governance, but now we are much more concerned about the impact of platform dominance in advertising markets and gatekeeping power between media and audiences. We have to understand media broadly and situate them in wider ecosystems in which digital services are the key players and see where the various threats to the democratic function of media are coming from.”

Drawing on your experience in both policymaking and academia, what do you believe are the most effective ways to bridge the gap between research and policy in the media field? 

“I don’t think there is as much of a gap as some people think. I know many people in the European Commission, government departments and regulators who read academic papers and I have been to many roundtables, workshops and other events where academics and policy makers come together. For the individual researcher or research group however, the challenge is to be the ones whose papers get read and who get invited to the events, which is best overcome by putting yourself out there. Find out where things are in policy processes and what the issues are that are being discussed and send the right people your work that is relevant to those debates, or a blog summarising its findings. Reach out to meet people when you have something to share from your research or invite people to your events. With the convening power and competences of the new European Media Services Board and European Digital Service Board there is arguably more interest in expertise and opportunities for researchers in our field to be heard than ever before.”

What are you most looking forward to during your stay at the CMC? 

“The chance to develop ideas and generate new ones with the excellent team of researchers here is what I am looking forward to most, and of course being inspired by the grand environment that is the ÖAW and the city of Vienna.”

We are thrilled to have Sally with us and look forward to engaging with her insights and expertise in the months ahead.

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Herzlich willkommen, Sally Broughton Micova! Dr. Sally Broughton Micova ist für einige Monate Gast-Forscherin in unserer Forschungsgruppe Media Accountability & Media Change am CMC. Sally arbeitet an der University of East Anglia in Großbritannien und interessiert sich besonders dafür, wie digitale Dienste die Demokratie beeinflussen können. Während ihres Aufenthalts in Wien freut sich Sally unter anderem auf: „Neue Ideen, gute Gespräche und Zusammenarbeit mit dem CMC-Team – und natürlich auf die schöne Stadt Wien!“ Wir heißen Sally herzlich willkommen und freuen uns auf die gemeinsame Zeit!