Media in South East Europe and their dealing with the past - Media Programme Southeast Europe
Event Reports
For the seventh time the KAS Media Program South East Europe invited professionals to exchange knowledge on current tendencies in media law and self-regulation. This years’ meeting took place in Tirana from 19th to 21th of October. 15 experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Macedonia, Moldova and Serbia reported about whether or not media come critically to terms with the recent past. Moreover, the participants debated with Albanian media representatives and young journalists in a public panel discussion.
Media are guardians of democracy. To ensure that they don’t risk losing society’s trust, media need to act responsibly and deal with the past transparently. With this statement Prof. Dr. Johannes Weberling, Head of the Department of Media Law, Viadrina European University, opened the seminar. In many parts within South East Europe there is still no broad consensus on the assessment of the communist regime, said Christian Spahr, director of the KAS Media Program South East Europe. Information is missing in textbooks and in addition to that there are hardly any public initiatives for reconditioning to be found. Spahr emphasised that dealing with the past is an essential part of the democratisation process.
The participants of the working group set their focus on the following topics: How are the media dealing with their own past? Which agreements concerning self-regulation are applied on reporting about the past? Which legal basis is implemented in the region?
The burden of communist times is still present and it’s necessary to discuss this openly, explained Dr. Jonila Godole, director of the Institute for Democracy, Media & Culture (IDMC) in Tirana. How come the system remained unchanged for 45 years and how critically could journalists report at that time? Such questions generate vivid interest, also among the younger generation, mentioned Godole.
More in the report.
