The challenges of activating voices and illuminating silences in European media policy. The gender dimension

The chapter introduces and critically reflects on a set of challenges that inter- rogate policy makers, media professionals, the academic community and citizens alike in relation to gender-relevant media policy in the European multi-level context. All such stakeholders, in fact, are invited to recognize persisting gendered disconnections and inequalities that characterize media operations and media systems. The theoretical approach adopted here is one that acknowledges the relevance of idea- tional elements in world politics: beliefs, principles, ideas, knowledge and particularly norms, may evolve over time and consolidate at the supranational level, hence informing the adoption of policies across sectors and levels of authority, from the global to the local.