About Us

Although the South East European states have achieved remarkable successes, they are still undergoing political and economic transformations. They all share an insufficient development of their media landscapes. Therefore, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) launched the Media Program South East Europe in order to strengthen the media as an important factor of democratization and to encourage positive developments. In January 2007 its office was opened in Sofia (Bulgaria).

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is an internationally active German political foundation affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union and named after Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The KAS adheres to the values of peace, liberty, justice and solidarity. Through its international office network, it supports over 200 projects in more than 120 countries worldwide. In coordination with the media programs in Latin America, Asia and Africa the following four objectives are being pursued for promoting democracy:

1. Conditions for quality journalism are being created.
   The program offers journalists information with special attention to the areas of politics, European integration, economy and inter-ethnic understanding. Furthermore, ethical standards are fostered and the establishment of press councils assisted.
2. The media actively exercise their watchdog function with regard to developments in politics and society (duty of information).
   Methods of practical media research are used. Journalists are trained in media law of their country as well as in European regulations.
3. The exchange between journalists and media representatives within the region, between media representatives of the region and Germany as well as the EU is enhanced.
   In order to achieve this KAS supports regional networks of journalists and encourages exchange of visits between journalists from the region and Germany as well as other EU countries.
4. Actors in politics use political communication to convey democratic stands and topics.
   Based on these premises, a professional exchange between parties and public institutions on the one hand and media on the other is encouraged.

The Media Program South East Europe seeks to accomplish those goals through measures in journalistic training, cooperation with press councils and journalistic organizations as well as workshops and seminars. Projects with cross-border approaches are particularly favoured.

Some of the regional issues to be discussed are:

• Media policy after the changes of 1989:
  What has happened since then and how is the situation today? How do people come to terms with the past (especially from the perspective of the “double German experience”, i.e. overcoming first national socialist and then communist dictatorship)?
• Control functions of the media:
  Do legal regulations provide for free journalism? Are representative organizations of the media being strengthened? To what extent has “Europeanization” of the media legislation succeeded?
• Political influences:
  What is the relation between Government and media? What is being done in order to restrict the political influence? Are the functions of the media accepted by the state? Is free and open access to information ensured?
• Economic influences:
  How did the media business develop under market economy conditions? How did privatisation work and how transparent is the ownership of the media? What is the role of foreign investors? How does the concentration of media influence the journalistic pluralism?
• Media and journalistic ethics:
  What kind of conditions favour a critical, independent and reliable journalism? Which are the conflicts of interests in the daily journalistic work?