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Political communication: Low trust but good new approaches

by Manuela Anastasova

KAS contribution at the plenary meeting of "Club of Venice"

The Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe, Christian Spahr, spoke about the media situation and political communication in the region at the plenary meeting of the EU communication forum "Club of Venice" at 26 and 27 May 2016 in The Hague, Netherlands.

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The "Club of Venice" gathered more than 60 high ranking communication experts from EU institutions and national governments. Main topics were methods and best practices of political communication as well as security and social cohesion in the EU.

Christian Spahr took part in a panel discussion at the first day of the conference. He presented key issues of the media landscapes in South East Europe such as the insufficient regulation and media diversity as well as the close relationship between media and politicians.

Moreover, Spahr presented results of a KAS survey which has shown a lack of trust in political communication in Bulgaria and Romania. "Only eight percent of Bulgarians and seven percent of Romanians believe that the politicians are informing the citizens well," Spahr said. Nevertheless, he pointed out that good practices and initiatives for the establishment of professional standards in political communication in the region exist. Spahr referred, in particular, to the "Declaration of Budva" of SEECOM, the first professional association for government spokespersons in Europe, which was co-founded by KAS Media Program South East Europe. SEECOM aims to promote transparency and openness, effective internal communication of institutions and a dialogue with the citizens. In addition to Christian Spahr, two more board members of SEECOM took part in the conference: Ivana Đurić (Serbia) and Secretary General Vuk Vujnović (Montenegro).

The "Club of Venice" is an informal forum of communication leaders and PR experts of different EU institutions and member states. Since 2014, it cooperates with the KAS Media Program South East Europe in the field of political communication.

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