A 3-day long Global Media Forum organised by the German public broadcaster, Deustsche Welle, has kicked off in Bonn, Germany. The forum attempts to bring together decision-makers and influencers from journalism, politics, business, civil society and academia.
The theme of this year’s conference is global inequalities, as it aims to address issues ranging from racism to economic inequality, and role of digital and mainstream media in understanding and addressing these issues.
The Forum, which is being held at the World Conference Centre in the Western German city of Bonn, also celebrates the 65th anniversary of Deustsche Welle.
Speaking at the opening session, the Director General of Deutsche Welle, Peter Limbourg said that the big social media platforms like Facebook and Google had the responsibility to help and collaborate with the news outlets. “I would like to see more efforts from these big platforms to encourage free journalism and freedom of expression,” he said.
Emphasizing the importance of media in safeguarding democracies, the European Union Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, said: “Pluralism requires that media are free, diverse, independent, and reliable”.
Speaking at the session “Unequal duel: Can free media fight its foes?”, Indian journalist Siddharthya Roy said the press in Indian was confronting threats from several quarters. He claimed that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was himself implicated in threatening journalists through his party-run social media cells.
“Journalists are put in the box and labelled as ‘anti-nationalists’, which threatens their safety and hinders their work,” he said.
He further added that journalists also faced severe economic hurdles while reporting from India. An editor at a leading English-language newspaper, he said, was fired last year because of his critical reporting on the initiatives taken by the government.
The Global Media Forum is attended by more than 2000 people, including journalists, politicians, and activists.
Among the speakers at the Forum include the former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai; Minister President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and several officials from the EU.
Director of Digital Rights Foundation, a Pakistan-based digital rights organisation, Nighat Dad is also expected speak on the third day of the GMF. The three-day conference specifically focuses on the impact of technology and digital media to eliminate the growing inequalities around the world.
Published in Daily Times, June 12th 2018.
