CIS media forum gets underway in Belarus
By Nigar Orujova
The seventh annual Forum of European and Asian Media (FEAM) to discuss integration among former Soviet republics and new media was opened in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Monday, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Organized by RIA Novosti, the two-day forum brings together over 200 heads of mass media outlets from the CIS and Baltic states as well as Georgia.
Participants will discuss Eurasian integration, cooperation of mass media and the public, issues relating to the functioning of new media; heated discussions are also in store on the theme "the Internet - unlimited information and freedom limits".
A photo exhibition will be held as part of the forum, along with an awards ceremony for the winners of the FEAM 2012 Best Media Project competition. The main objective of the competition is to encourage information and analytical media projects on the basis of both new and conventional technologies dedicated to economic and political integration.
Holding the forum in Minsk is significant, as Belarus is an active post-Soviet integration supporter, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's welcoming speech which was read out at the forum, RIA Novosti said.
According to Lukashenko, effectiveness of integration processes is "directly connected to political will of the states' leadership and constructive position of citizens."
"That's why the role of mass media which honestly and objectively reflect real processes and form public opinion is so important," his statement said.
The Belarusian leader noted that the forum lays groundwork for journalists' exchange of views and experience, which will increase creative ideas and further development of mass media cooperation.
The first CIS and Baltic Mass Media Forum was held on the RIA Novosti initiative in Moscow, December 2006. The Forum acquired its present name in 2009. The two previous forums were held in Kyiv and Astana in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The previous forum left a mark in history, establishing the Club of Heads of the CIS, Baltic and Georgia Media and giving a start to the FEAM 2012 Best Media Project competition.
The forum of European and Asian media has become an event unmatched in the post-Soviet space. Based on tolerance, these forums form "a new journalist pool on the post-Soviet territory free from the stereotypes of the past, bias and antagonism", organizers said, according to Belarusian Telegraph Agency.