"The 2021 Europe & Eurasia Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) publication stands on the shoulders of IREX’s almost 20 years of the Media Sustainability Index (MSI), which was last published in 2019. Through VIBE, IREX aims to capture a modern era where many people around the world are simultaneously producers, transmitters, consumers, and actors of the information that shapes their environments and their lives. At the start of the VIBE project, IREX engaged with USAID in an extensive methodology development process, the result of which is this VIBE 2021 publication. A senior methodology consultant with an extensive background in monitoring and evaluation led the development process, which involved expertise from USAID in Washington and overseas, and peer reviews by U.S. and European media and information experts. Building on the MSI’s strengths, the VIBE methodology relies primarily on information from country experts who complete a VIBE questionnaire, provide scores for 20 indicators1 (which are averages of panelists’ scores on supporting sub-indicators), and evidence to justify their scores; they then contribute to a panel discussion led by a moderator. In light of the global pandemic of 2020 and 2021, almost all panel discussions were held online. In a new feature of VIBE, IREX introduced a strength of evidence (SoE) rating to each indicator, which is meant to increase transparency about the potential subjectivity of some indicators (and especially indicators measuring newer concepts or newer sources of information). For each expert-opinion indicator, moderators assigned a SoE rating—Weak, Somewhat Weak, Somewhat Strong, or Strong—based on the quality of evidence informing each indicator, the confidence of panelists in their scores, and the level of consensus across the panel." (Executive summary, page 8)