About

More than a festival, a movement towards an informed society

Voices isn't just another festival. It's a pioneering event to reshape our relationship with information. From tackling journalism's evolution in a rapidly shifting media landscape to empowering citizens with the tools to navigate these changes, we're steering the conversation toward a more informed future.
Imagine two days buzzing with hundreds of participants, 70 speakers, curated sessions, interactive workshops, exhibitions, and networking opportunities. Voices is a vibrant gathering of minds. 
The next edition will be in February 2025. 
From Florence, we then embark on a journey across European cities. The next edition will be in Zagreb in 2025. This itinerant celebration isn't just about touring and moving around, but about fostering diverse dialogues, embracing cultural richness, and engaging local communities in each host city.
We want to create a meeting ground for journalists, media professionals, students, and curious people. We celebrate the pivotal roles journalists and informed citizens play in our societies while fostering critical thinking around disinformation.
And why Voices? A voice is an important opinion that someone expresses. Giving voice is also giving space to it, making it exist. In a way, this entails the role journalists play in society, it recalls to participation and representation. We have a plural name because we won’t provide a single view, nor journalism does, because the essence of the festival is bringing different people and audiences together. Last but not least, because this is the result of joint efforts.
Behind this festival stands a varied consortium of European organisations committed to enhance media freedom and media literacy as essential elements for the functioning of our democratic societies.
These are the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (lead partner based at the European University Institute), the European Federation of Journalists, the AISBL EBU-UER, The European Association for Viewers Interests, Journalisme et Citoyenneté, Lie Detectors and Savoir*Devenir. Voices is co-funded by the European Union.

Team

A journalist for the past fifteen years, Clothilde Le Coz worked in the the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East as a freelancer, mainly for French and American press

  Juliane created Lie Detectors and directs its strategy and development. She has advised governments, policy-makers and the EU on countering disinformation and polarisation,

Paolo is the Founder and Director of the European Association for Viewers Interests, EAVI – the international organisation based in Brussels that has been working on media litera

Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in 1993 she joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and since 2003 she has worked

Rebecca Bonello Ghio is the Projects and Policy Officer at the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). She has experience working in international organisations and NGOs, special

Giovanni Melogli is the Coordinator of the Voices. He is also promoter and spokesperson of the European Citizens’ Initiative for Media Pluralism, and President of the Interna

Paul Harrison is a Media Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), focusing on media literacy, accessibility, and TV co-productions. He worked on various research r

Thomas Bergmann works as a Senior EU Policy Advisor at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). In this role, he engages with EU institutions to ensure that the voice of public servi

Divina Frau-Meigs is a Professor of media and information and communications technology sociology at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, France. She holds several degrees from the S

Iva Nenadić is the Scientific Coordinator at the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom of the European University Institute. She is also an Assistant Professor in Journalis

Advisory Board

Voices is steered by leading experts in the fields of journalism, media literacy, media policy, fundamental rights, and media research.

Elda Brogi, Board’s Chair | European University Institute

Jerome Bouvier, Journalisme et Citoyenneté

Maja Cappello, European Audiovisual Observatory

Paolo Celot, European Association for Viewers Interests

Divina Frau-Meigs, Savoir Devenir

Wouter Gekiere, AISBL EBU-UER

Tom Gibson, Committee to Protect Journalists

Ricardo Gutiérrez, European Federation of Journalists

Pier Luigi Parcu, European University Institute

Maria Luisa Stasi, Article 19

Nadia Vissers, European Journalism Training Association

Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, Lie Detectors

Voices is organised by