By Free Media Forum, 11/18/19, 9:00 AM CET – International media experts, journalists, diplomats, lawyers, and political analysts are meeting in Prague over the next two days, November 20-22, to address the most pressing issues in the world of the media and try to secure fundamental solutions.
More than 80 experts from around the globe are scheduled to participate in the second international Media Forum 2019: Freedom of Journalism in the Context of Human Rights, New Technologies and International Information Security, which starts today.
Among them are: Anis Bajrektarevic (Austria), professor and chairperson, International Law and Global Political Studies; Farhat Asif (Pakistan), editor of The Diplomatic Insight, editor-in-chief of Global News Pakistan; Chavdar Minchev (Bulgaria), editor-in-chief of International Affairs magazine, Tiberio Graziani (Italy), chairman Vision and Global Trends, International Institute for Global Analyses; Srdja Trifkovic, journalist, author, editor for Chronicles magazine, and many others.
The world has entered an era of ideological multipolarity.
Lack of freedom of speech and disrespect for human rights are problems that are growing dramatically in the new era of emerging technologies, changing methods of communication and an unstable system of international political relations.
The global media community, experts in international information security and law experts, and diplomats should join forces to work out ways of supporting independent journalism and the secure exchange of information.
This is the main aim of the second Media Forum organizers — International Affairs magazine (Russia), international independent platform and International Relations magazine (Bulgaria).
Paradoxically, in the era of advanced technologies and highly developed economic systems, the global community is vulnerable.
The trends that once seemed inspiring, have yielded unexpected results: globalization has aggravated local conflicts, issues of values, identity and tradition are under scrutiny.
Finally, the question about the “power of law” and “the law of power” has come to the fore.
The world has entered an era of ideological multipolarity.
This was acknowledged by Francis Fukuyama, the author of the End of History. “What I said back then (in 1992) is that one of the problems with modern democracy is that it provides peace and prosperity but people want more than that… liberal democracies do not even try to define what a good life is, it’s left up to individuals, who feel alienated, without purpose, and that’s why joining these identity groups gives them some sense of community.
This extended period, in which a certain set of ideas about the benefits of unregulated markets took hold, in many ways it’s had a disastrous effect.”
The search for the truth began to be ousted by the applied effectiveness of the acquired knowledge.
Are the media ready to appropriately reflect the new reality that challenges much of what is known as the mainstream?
This is the subject of the Media Forum session Contemporary Journalism in the New Ideological Multipolarity.
A century ago, Max Weber, in his famous address to the students, spoke about the growing discrepancy between a scientist’s mission and the new requirements he has to meet.
The search for the truth began to be ousted by the applied effectiveness of the acquired knowledge. Isn’t something similar happening to modern media now as we witness their undisguised commercialization and bias?
And how to retrieve public confidence in the media?
Walter Hussman, a regional publisher in the U.S., believes that “the solution is for reporters, editors and news executives to look inward, and not only to recommit ourselves to being fair, objective and impartial in our reporting, but to convince the public we are doing it.” We also need to separate and clearly label news and opinion.
The internet and the new information technologies have provided humanity with an ocean of opportunities, which are fraught with considerable danger and a lot of trouble.
How is this result achieved and what does the journalist do to achieve it? Finally, do the boundaries between traditional and new media coincide with the concepts of responsibility and irresponsibility of journalism?
These and other issues connected with a journalist’s duty, will be the subject of discussion in the sessions The Contemporary World and the Accountability of Journalism and Journalism of the Post-Information Era, or the Golden Age of Misinformation.
The internet and the new information technologies have provided humanity with an ocean of opportunities, which are fraught with considerable danger and a lot of trouble.
At present, cyber security issues affect nearly every user of the internet: be it an individual, a large corporation or a country.
Fear of nuclear war is replaced with an equally destructive threat. Cyber wars have a tendency to grow from point and local, to large-scale and even global, with unpredictable consequences.
How are cyber security issues presented in modern media? Experts will discuss these and other issues at the session Information and Communication Technologies in the Media.
The first Media Forum was held in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2018. It was immediately considered to have the potential to grow into a promising new platform to address aspects of international cyber cooperation, with a role in reflecting an evolving landscape of media standards, including the safety of journalists in military conflicts, the relationship between media and governments, as well as challenges to political pluralism and cultural diversity.
Media partners of the second Media Forum: Vision & Global Trends; International Institute for Global Analyses (Italy); Diplomat Magazine (Netherlands); National Association for International Information Security (Russia); The European Perspectives Journal (Slovenija).
