CMCS Hosts AMARC International Forum on the Future of Community Radio in Central and Eastern Europe
Today and tomorrow, the CMCS is hosting the forum Public Policies and Media Pluralism: The Future of Community Radio in Central and Eastern Europe, organized by AMARC-Europe, the European regional section of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters.
The forum is starting off with a keynote speech by Gabriel Nissim, President of the Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe and a plenary session featuring speakers from the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), the Croatian media regulatory authority and the Hungarian National Federation of Free Radios; as well as a first meeting of community radios from Central and Eastern Europe.
The program furthermore includes two working group sessions, one of which specifically features radio-leaders whose community stations had to suspend operations since 2011, mainly because of the consequences of the controversial new Hungarian media regulations. On Tuesday, the forum program encompasses plenary sessions called "Which Future for Freedom of Expression and Pluralism in the Council of Europe Countries" and "Media Literacy and Civil Society Commitment". Speakers include representatives of community media around the region, including Radio Green Wave (Georgia), Radio Student (Slovenia) and Tilos Radio (Hungary), as well as the European Broadcasting Union.
The following sessions on Tuesday, 13 November, are open to the CEU community(all in the Popper room, Nador 11):
9.00 - Plenary session: "Media Literacy and civil society engagement"
Moderated by: Henry Loeser, AMARC Europe. Panelists: Jack Byrne (Near Media Co-op, Ireland); Kate Coyer (CMCS); Urszula Doliwa (University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland); Helmut Peissl (COMMIT/Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE), Austria)
11.00 - Parallel Working Groups:
WG1: "Cross-Cutting Sector alliances: What can regulators, academics and community media do together in order to establish and improve a cohesive legislative framework of community media in Central and East Europe, corresponding to European and International standards?
WG 2: "Vanishing voices in Hungary: Round table discussion on the consequences of new Hungarian media regulations with radio leaders whose community stations ceased operation since 2011."
14.00 - Plenary session: "The future of freedom of expression, pluralism and community radio in Central and Eastern Europe"
Moderated by: Riitta Haapakoski, Radio Robin Hood; Panelists from Radio Green Wave, Georgia; Radio Student, Slovenia; Internews, Ukraine; and Tilos Radio, Hungary. Respondent: Gabriel Nissim, Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Conference of INGOs, Council of Europe
16.00 - Report back from working groups; recommendations, next steps and wrap-up
The forum aims to facilitate the dialogue between local community broadcasters, national regulatory authorities, academics and policy makers in order to better comprehend the challenges related to the development of the community media sector in Central and Eastern Europe, and to raise awareness about what needs to be done to tackle them.
Much more information about the event can be found on the AMARC website.