Introduction
This chapter introduces the tension between European data protection regulation and freedom of expression, including the heightened form this tension assumes as regards the activity of professional journalists and other traditional publishers. These actors not only play a central role in public discourse but also often possess a disproportionate ability to gather, process, and disseminate personal data. It is therefore important both to examine how these interactions have played out at different times, in different places and contexts, and to consider how they might best evolve across the European Economic Area (EEA) under the new European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The concept of traditional publishers is often equated to professional journalists and the institutional media but should also encompass professional artists and writers including academics. The chapter delineates the scope of this empirical and normative study, explores the key concepts deployed, and elucidates the methodological approach adopted.