Stephanie Comey is Director for Media Literacy and User Education with Coimisiún na Meán
Stephanie Comey is Director for Media Literacy and User Education with Coimisiún na Meán, the new Irish regulator for media where her work has covered Disinformation, Media Literacy, Gender and Diversity and Sectoral Development.
With a regulatory career stretching over 2 decades, Stephanie has been involved in a wide range of roles and initiatives, including Assistant Chief Executive Officer with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
She contributed to the drafting of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Gender Equality in the Audiovisual sector in 2017, and led the work of the BAI to increase women representation and participation in media. She has also worked with key stakeholders to increase the availability and quality of learning and development initiatives in the media sector, supporting the establishment of industry bodies and representative networks.
However, her true passion is in the area of media literacy. In 2016, she led the development of the BAI Media Literacy Policy which set out a number of key media literacy competencies and led to the development of Media Literacy Ireland, of which she continues to be co-chair.
But her sphere of influence is not limited to Ireland as she is also well-known on the international stage. She was a co-chair for the ERGA Action Group on Media Literacy, and was instrumental in the drafting of the recent Media Literacy TookBox for Video-Sharing Platforms
She is also Chair of the EPRA media literacy taskforce, EMIL, which operates as a ‘network of networks’ in relation to media literacy across the EPRA membership of 47 countries.
In 2018, Stephanie was invited by the US State Department to participate in the Edward J. Murrow Programme for Journalists and Media professionals, as part of their International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP). On a 2-week trip across the US, she met various stakeholders to explore the rights and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy to foster transparency and government accountability, explore ways to verify reliable sources of information and counter misinformation, and connect with organisations and public agencies delivering media literacy initiatives.
She holds degrees in Law and English from the University of Le Havre in France, an MA with the University of Westminster and an MSocSci with the University of Leicester in the UK. She is currently reading for a PhD in media studies with the Technological University of Dublin.
