The European and Asian Media Forum took place in Astana. The main topic of the forum was “20 years of independence: the media and the public”. Forum’s participants discussed specific traits of the media in post-Soviet space in the conditions of rapid development of information technologies. Some other topics were discussed in Astana as well. A VK correspondent discussed the forum’s results and impact with political expert Gela Vasadze and the CEO of the ‘News-Georgia” project, Yelena Imedashvili.
Yelena Imedashvili
“In my opinion the most interesting discussion of the forum was that about the internet's impact on the mass media. Who should the media adapt to it? There were a lot of representatives of the so-called ‘traditional media’ representatives. They told us that the internet posed a great challenge for them, for example, in the pre-internet era paper circulations were much higher.
Today the ‘traditional media’ has to review its policy, to renovate its approach, and this process is very painful. On the other hand, representatives of the ‘new media’ were also present at the forum and it was interesting to observe the two groups’ interaction. We also learned a lot of useful information needed for our professional activities. For example, representatives of different web search engines attended the forum – that was particularly interesting for me. We work with the internet, with web searches, and there’s a great number of purely technical issues there. The forum helped me understand how to resolve them.
Facebook representatives were also present – this is also important, as this social network is extremely popular and the media has to learn how to operate through it.
In my opinion this forum was much better than its previous equivalents. There was less politics and more professionalism here".
Gela Vasadze
I have the most positive impression. I believe such forums are very useful and important. First of all, we, Georgians (I mean experts as well as journalists), somehow slipped out of Russian-speaking information space, and this forum helps us compensate.
Of course, the internet presents a great field of opportunities, but I believe actual meetings, such as this forum, are also very important. I think such events should be organized more often. And of course Georgia should participate in them.
-Who organized this forum?
- The Russian media group ‘RIA Novosti’. There were almost 250 delegates from different CIS countries, Baltic states and Georgia. We discussed the main media development trends, acceptable development strategies, etc. It was all very interesting. All such events have two sides – official and unofficial, and both of them are important.
- Were there any representatives from conflict zones?
- Unfortunately, no. No representatives of Georgian breakaway republics were present – RIA Novosti is a conservative company in this regard. In a sense, it is a correct policy: if South Ossetian and Abkhaz representatives were there, some Georgian representatives would have refused to participate. But it would be interesting to organize such a forum in Tbilisi or Yerevan or Baku and invite representatives from conflict zones.
Personally, I often have contacts with my Ossetian and Abkhaz colleagues, but unfortunately only via the internet. And, as I’ve said, nothing can replace real-life communication.
- And what about video links? RIA Novosti often has them.
- To tell you the truth, I don’t think they are such a good idea: they don’t have acute discussions. I told that to the RIA Novosti management. I think they should invite people who can be more interesting. Personal dialogue is so important because it promotes not only lively discussions, but mutual respect of parties as well, while on the internet opponents often fail to observe the basic rules of polite behavior. The internet creates a sense of alienation. Politics can change rapidly, but inter-personal relations are not that easy to restore.
Interview by Georgy Kalatozishvili
