[Discussion] Mass-Media Transformation in Post-Soviet Conditions

[Gonul]

CONF. PROGRAM- Mass-Media Transformation in Post-Soviet Conditions, Sept 26-27

Mass-Media Transformation in Post-Soviet Conditions

Yerevan, September 26-27, 2003

Organized by the Caucasus Media Institute, Yerevan and CIMERA, Geneva

The last decade has brought revolutionary changes to the media sector and 
the professional practice of journalists working in post-Soviet societies. 
The collapse of Soviet censorship, the emergence of new independent states 
and the new rhythm given to communication thanks to the new technologies, 
have transformed the profession and the work conditions of journalists 
beyond recognition.

After initial successes in the last years of Glasnost and in the early 
nineties, the media sector finds itself in a very deep crisis. Although the 
profession played an important role in revealing what was still taboo in the 
Soviet society - from Stalinism to environmental damage today mass media are 
in most cases unable to shape public opinion or lead debates in their 
societies, and have lost the popular trust they enjoyed a decade ago.

What is it that has lead mass media into such a difficult situation? What 
role does the state play in this sphere? How does the new market environment 
affect mass media? What is needed in order to secure independence of 
journalists? How are new technologies transforming the media scene? And what 
are the individual stories of journalists and their media institutions in 
the newly independent republics?

In order to discuss those questions, the CMI in collaboration with CIMERA is 
organizing an international conference on September 26-27 in Yerevan. The 
conference will bring together over 20 media experts, journalism professors, 
researchers, and reporters from various CIS countries, Iran, Eastern and 
Western Europe, and the US. Working languages are Russian and English.

Conference proceedings will be published in Russian and English.

For more information, please contact Moritz Gathmann, moritz.cmi@netsys.am

The Organizers

Caucasus Media Institute assists in the development of mass media in the 
Caucasus. Our aim is to achieve a professional standard of journalism 
capable to inform the public and offer debate through the mass media. CMI 
works in three directions: to introduce international standards of reporting 
into journalism in the Caucasus, to train journalists to use new 
technologies which are reshaping the media profession, to offer background 
knowledge and critical analysis of recent developments in the region and the 
world.

CMI brings together training and research, so that our practical experience 
is enriched by our efforts to better understand the changing socio-political 
conditions in post-Soviet Caucasus.  For more information about CMI go to:

www.caucasusmedia.org

CIMERA is a Geneva-based non-profit organization, working in good 
governance, conflict transformation, and media development projects. CIMERA 
is active in the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Balkans, as well as in 
Switzerland.  For more information about CIMERA, go to:

www.cimera.org

Special Thanks

The conference organizers would like to thank the Swiss Agency for 
Development and Cooperation, and the German Federal Foreign Office, and the 
German Embassy in Armenia, for their financial support.

SWISS AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION (SDC)

Conference Program

Arrival of guests: Thursday, September 25

Day 1, Friday, September 26

9:00-9:30 Registration

9:30 10:00 Opening of the Conference

Vicken Cheterian, Director, CMI

Hans-Wulf Bartels, German Ambassador to Armenia

Zara Allahverdyan, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, National 
Programme Officer in Armenia

10:00-11:00 Session One, moderated by Andrei Kolesnikov, journalist at 
Izvestia, PR-Director at FBK Consulting, Moscow. The Political Underpinnings 
for Post-Soviet Media Development.

Oleg Panfilov, Director, Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, 
Moscow. Post-Soviet Press: Oppositional or Independent?

Vicken Cheterian, Director, CMI, Yerevan. The Changing Political Conditions 
and the Social Role of the Media.

Marina Muskhelishvili, political scientist, Tbilisi. Free but not Liberal: 
Mass Media and a Particularistic Social Context.

11:00-11:30 Discussion

11:30-11:45 Break

11:45- 12:30 Session Two, moderated by Alexander Iskandarian, Deputy 
Director, CMI: New Technologies and Media Transformation.


Andrei Rezaev, professor of philosophy at the Russian Humanitarian Institute 
of St. Petersburg. Communication in Post-Soviet Societies Seen in the Light 
of the Communication Revolution.

Diana Schmidt, Queen s University, Belfast. The Use of ICTs by Local Civil 
Society Organizations in Post-Soviet Russia.

12:30-13:00 Discussion

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:30 Session Three, moderated by Ilona Urbanovich. Electronic versus 
Print Media.

Sergei Bondarenko, Director of Radio Rostov. The Role of the Radio in the 
New Media Spectrum.

Irina Kostrichenko, journalist, Alianta. The Role  of Paid Articles in the 
Collapse of Print Media.

Mesrop Movsessian, Director, A1+ TV company, Armenia. The Main Role of 
Television: to Inform or to Entertain?

15:30-16:00 Discussion

16:00-16:30 Break

16:30-17:30 Session Four, moderated by Alexander Khamagaev: And the Truth in 
All That&

Irada Huseinova, CJES, Moscow. The Media of Azerbaijan in the Pre-election 
Season.

Aleksei Sukhov, journalist, editor of www.osmedia.kg and Media Insight 
Central Asia. Poor Education as a Factor for Low-quality Publications in the 
Media of Southern Kyrgyzstan.

Alfia Kharchenko, Radio Poitakht Info, Tashkent. Mass Media Development in 
Uzbekistan: Facts and Myths.

17:30-18:00 Discussion

Day 2, Saturday, September 27, Country Profiles

9:30-10:30 Session Five, moderated by Diana Schmidt. The Russian Model.

Andrei Kolesnikov, journalist at Izvestia, PR-Director at FBK Consulting, 
Moscow. Evolution of the Russian Media. From Censorship to Self-Censorship.

Zoya Khotkina, Moscow Center for Gender Studies. Image of Women in Russian 
Media.

Iosif Dzjaloshinsky, President of the Commission on Free Access to 
Information. Social Partnership and Mass Media in the Russian Regions.

10:30-11:00 Discussion

11:00-11:15 Break

11:15-12:00 Session Six, Moderated by Vicken Cheterian. Stories from Abroad.

Remzi Lani, Director, Albanian Media Institute. The Difficult Road towards 
Independent Media in the Balkans.

Steven Pasternack, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications, New 
Mexico State University. Baltic Journalism: New Freedoms and New Problems.

12:00-12:30 Discussion

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-14:30 Session Seven, moderated by Oleg Panfilov. Media and 
Restrictions in Central Asia.

Habibollah Shirazi and Hossein Seifzadeh, Tehran University. The Information 
Age and the Wisdom of Media Restrictions in Central Asia.

Andrei Aranbaev, journalist, Turkmenistan. State Monopoly on Mass Media: a 
Story from Turkmenistan.

Alexander Khamagaev, journalist, CIMERA country project coordinator, 
Uzbekistan. Mass Media and the Ideology of National Independence.

14:30-15:00 Discussion

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-16:30 Session Eight, moderated by Steven Pasternack. The Stony Road 
from Soviet Style Journalism to Journalism of Independence.

Lyudmila Kalashnik, RFE/RL correspondent in Poltava Region. Ukrainian Media 
under Pressure.

Tatyana Orlova, journalist, Bishkek. A Personal Story of Moia Stolitsa.

Ilona Urbanovich, journalist, Belarus. The Situation of Journalists in Belarus.

16:30-18:00 Discussion

18:00 Closing of the Conference