The Eco Forum: “Information Under Influence: The Shaky State of Traditional Media and Democratic Challenges”

As part of the “Rendez-vous de l’Eco” series, the Faculty of Economics at the University of Montpellier is hosting a conference on the topic: “Information Under Influence: The Shifting Landscape of Traditional Media and Democratic Challenges” on Thursday, January 30, 2025, starting at 6:00 p.m., at the Richter Campus of the Faculty of Economics.

Does the economic vulnerability of the media encourage the spread of misinformation?

"Democracy can function only if it is built on a shared perception of reality, of verifiable and debatable facts" (in the sense of democratic debate) (Hannah Arendt, *Truth and Politics, Crisis of Culture*, 1954). New information practices, combined with the arrival of digital giants in the information landscape, are undermining the process by which traditional media produce information.

From the mass collection of personal data to the capture of users’ attention and the siphoning off of online advertising revenue, all these factors are undermining the business model for producing quality news, paving the way for the privatization of the public sphere to benefit companies that have turned misinformation and the polarization of public discourse into a lucrative business.

Speaker:

Nathalie SONNAC is a professor of information and communication sciences atParis Panthéon-Assas University. As a specialist in media, cultural, and digital economics, she focuses particularly on issues of competition and regulation, as well as the political and democratic implications of media and social networks in the new digital economy.

She served as president ofthe Institut français de presse (IFP) and head of the Department of Information and Communication atParis Panthéon-Assas University (2009–2015). She served as a member of the National Digital Council (CNNum) from 2013 to 2015. She was a member of the Board of the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) (now Arcom) from 2015 to 2021.