Leonard Novy is a journalist and communications expert. As an independent consultant, he advises selected organizations in Germany and internationally on issues of public policy, strategy, and communications. In addition, he has served as (co-)director of the Institute for Media and Communications Policy (IfM), a Cologne-based think tank providing research and advice on media policy, journalism, and political communication, since 2011.
A political scientist by training, he is involved in the promotion of media freedom and journalistic innovation as well as in efforts to counter disinformation, e.g. as curator and member of the board of the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium, jury member of the Wiener Medieninitiative, and senior advisor to newsguard. Teaching courses on political communication and journalism, he is a regular lecturer at Hertie School of Governance as well as at journalism schools such as the Forum Journalismus und Medien Wien FJUM. Leonard studied history and political science at Humboldt University, Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Cambridge (MPhil, PhD). From 2004 – 05 he was a Fellow at the Department of Government at Harvard University and Visiting Scholar at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin. After receiving his doctorate in international politics from the University of Cambridge, he held various positions in journalism and the think tank sector, including as head of two projects on strategic policy-making and sustainable governance at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, as a fellow of the stiftung neue verantwortung and as executive editor / executive producer of TV production companies.
As a frequent contributor to various national and international media, he has published extensively on issues pertaining to international politics, media and democracy. His book publications include the monograph “Imagining the Future of Europe. National Identity, Mass Media and the Public Sphere in the European Union” (Palgrave Macmillan) as well as the co-edited volumes “Journalismus in der digitalen Moderne”, “Zwischen Macht und Ohnmacht – Facetten erfolgreicher Politik” and “Transparency and Funding of Public Service Media – Die deutsche Debatte im internationalen Kontext” (VS Verlag).
@leonard_novy
