Ludwigshafen / Kyiv / Berlin 03.12.2021
“Media Dialogue 2021” involved the participants from Germany, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and Belorus, engaging the Belorussian journalists in exile as well. The project has been funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany since 2015. It unites not only the students of five Ukrainian universities such as Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lesya Ukrayinka National University of Volyn, National University “Odesa Law Academy”, but also involves Caucasus University, Yerevan State University, Gyumri Technology Center and The Academy of Fine Arts in Gyumri, Moldova State University, Free International University of Moldova. Journalists’ unions and associations from all participating countries also joined the project.
The topic of this year’s project is conflict sensitivity and research. This is particularly important at current times for Ukraine, when the Russian-Ukrainian war continues in Donbas and Crimea is occupied by Russia; for Transnistria in Moldova; for Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia; for Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia.
Within the second part of the project, the participants of the “Media Dialogue 2021” held numerous talks with representatives of the Ukrainian civil society, visited public and private TV stations in Kyiv and Lviv, including the headquarters of the new public broadcaster. The discussions focused on several main topics: securing freedom of expression; fight against fake news, propaganda and hate speech; reporting the threats of democratic development; armed conflicts; active Russian propaganda.
The Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Prof. Volodymyr Bugrov, was impressed by the project’s development and assured the “Media Dialogue” organisers of his extensive support.
The final stage of “Media Dialogue 2021” consisted of two parts, which were held in Lviv and Kyiv from 21 to 30 of November and ended with the final conference at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The final conference in Kyiv united the representatives of different organisations, which are constantly working on improving our society. This time the keynote speakers were authoritative personalities from different fields:
- Roger Casale from the New Europeans;
- Tanya Lokot from The Global Voices;
- Sergiy Tomilenko from The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine;
- Oksana Solonska from KyivPride;
- Oleksandra Panova from ARTIFAKE;
- Liza Basay, an artist, author of murals and street art objects.
Roger Casale, a former member of the British House of Commons, The Head of the New Europeans, highlighted the central role of civil society in democratic development of the Western and Eastern Europe. Civil societies of the European countries can make an essential contribution to fighting state terrorism such as evolved in Belarus as well as the threat to freedom of speech and freedom of press with democratic means. This requires cross-border solidarity. “Media Dialogue” and “The New Europeans” work closely together to achieve these goals.
It’s worth mentioning that during one of the meetings in the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, its head Sergiy Tomilenko had awarded Dr Wolfgang Ressmann with the certificate of gratitude for his commitment. The certificate says: “The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine appreciates your contribution through diverse public and professional activities to promote free journalism and freedom of speech. We wish you success in your endeavours and sincerely congratulate you with the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence!”
About “Media Dialogue 2021”: the first part of the project took place in Georgia and Armenia in September 2021. The contacts were established with the Georgian Journalists’ Association in Tbilisi, which also suffers from considerable political pressure. In Armenia, the project focused on the importance of art and culture in conflict resolution. At the Academy of Fine Arts in Gyumri, the Armenian partner organisation ACOSS (Yerevan) organised a comprehensive programme on culture and journalism as well as the role of art in social management of war and conflict situations in the former Soviet republics.
During the project phases, numerous TV programmes, blogs, podcasts and videos were produced. The website https://mediadialogue.eu contains the project results achieved so far.
For the first time, “Media Dialogue TV” was produced, the cartoon contest was conducted, the art group was created. The TV magazine, recorded on site and edited via data transfer at OK-TV Ludwigshafen, provides exciting insights into the course of the project. The magazine can also be viewed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYloBYSHvTw&list=PLRWf_VkyqaD-MU5twFHGgS1C4EaEb6I57) as well as in the programme of German citizen media.
For further details:
Dr. Wolfgang Ressmann
c/o OK-TV Ludwigshafen
Tel. +49621 – 524065
Links:
Website: https://mediadialogue.eu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media.dialogue.2021
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/media.dialogue.2021/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYloBYSHvTw&list=PLRWf_VkyqaD-MU5twFHGgS1C4EaEb6I57
The timeline was created by the co-organiser Kateryna Sokolova.
