“New media contribute to democracy and to advancing the quality of communication, but they cannot substitute professional journalism which provides credibility to public information,” said veteran Slovenian broadcast journalist and manager Boris Bergant in his concluding speech at the VI South East Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) which took place on 22-23 October, 2012 in Becici, Montenegro. Focusing on the challenges of journalism in the age of new media, the panel discussions centered on social media and blogging, digital games as well as the use of new media to combat corruption. A special session was devoted to the media in Montenegro which offered the opportunity to tackle issues such as the role of the state, ownership structure, market forces and journalism.
The two-day event was organised by the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) in cooperation with the Trieste-based Central European Initiative (CEI) and the Media Program South East Europe of the German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). “Today’s Forum is an excellent example of a joint cooperation among three influential partners for the benefit of the media of the region,” said Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General in his opening speech. Attended by 261 participants from 20 countries, VI SEEMF was officially inaugurated by Montenegro’s president Filip Vujanovic, who praised the forum by saying that it: ”contributes to advancing the freedom of expression, which is a priority in SEE countries”. VI SEEMF was also an occasion to present the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism. The 2012 winners were Slovenian journalists Blaz Zgaga and Matej Surc, while the Special Investigative Diploma went to the Albanian journalist Telnis Skuqi and Special Mention to the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN) based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. SEEMF aims to promote exchanges and networking among media executives and leading journalists in South East and Central Europe. Previous SEEMF events took place in Zagreb (2007), Sofia (2008), Tirana (2009), Budapest (2010) and Belgrade (2011). For more information: www.seemo.org; fabro@cei.int