What effects are recent world economic developments having on the reciprocal perceptions of Arab and German societies? Can experiences of Germany and Europe provide impulses for transformation processes in the Middle East? These were the central questions at the recent international media dialogue staged by the German Federal Foreign Office in Damascus in mid-October 2009. Some 30 journalists and media experts took part in this meeting. They came from Germany and seven Arab countries to discuss “The Media and Transformation Processes”.
Planned by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office, the regular bilateral or regional media dialogues are seen as important instruments in Germany’s public relations work abroad. The dialogues enable media-makers from Germany to join in intense exchanges with colleagues from a great diversity of countries. So far these have included countries such as China, Pakistan, Turkey, Israel, Indonesia, the Ukraine, France, Central Asia, the CIS states, central and southeast European countries, countries of eastern and southern Africa, Mongolia, Serbia, Croatia and Kazakhstan.
Journalists, professionals, media managers and politicians exchange experiences in practical journalism at the round tables and discuss current media issues. “These encounters between opinion leaders from various geographical regions and cultural circles also create networks that transcend borders and stimulate cooperation initiatives,” says ifa Secretary General Ronald Grätz. Many of the participants develop lasting contacts as a result of the media dialogues: “This also promotes intense interchange between editorial offices which of course benefits reporting through access to the latest information and better knowledge of background situations.” This is confirmed by a “man from the practical field”. Victor Kocher, long-time Middle East correspondent for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and now correspondent with the United Nations in Geneva, has taken part in a number of media dialogues with the Arab world. According to the Swiss journalist, the discussions about key current issues, such as democratic reform, combating terrorism, or freedom of expression, among equal colleagues and on the basis of self-criticism and constructive criticism of their counterparts “dismantles mutual prejudices and broadens perspectives for a clear presentation of information that transcends the west-east divide.”
“Areas of tension between government, private and public media” was the topic addressed, also in October 2009, at the current German-Latin American media dialogue held in Quito with participants from Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Germany. The comparison of the media systems served two purposes: perceiving the strengths and weaknesses in one’s own country more clearly and learning from the experiences in the other countries. Key issues were normative rules in media systems (private/public service media, state media), the characteristics of political communication, the organization of regional and local public opinion, the increasing financial problems of the media as well as the self-organization and training of journalists.
Barbara Kuhnert, deputy head of the Dialogues Department at ifa in Stuttgart, takes a tentative look at the future. She has organized and accompanied the Federal Foreign Office’s media dialogues around the world since 1997: “Originally, the reason for the media dialogues was to counteract stereotypes and prejudices through balanced reporting. In the case of some countries this will still be necessary and right in the future. But experience at the most recent media dialogues has shown that focusing on global themes, such as environmental policy, economic systems, or coming to terms with the past offer greater possibilities for intercultural sustainability in terms of ideas for new projects and networks. That’s why I see the future of the media dialogues in even greater networking with civil society and its topical themes.”
