A two-day, hybrid-format Regional Conference “Media in times of war” was organised in Tbilisi, Georgia on 12 and 13 October 2022. It was attended by up to 200 online and offline participants.
Up to 200 (online and offline) media stakeholders and journalists from five Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine), as well as Council of Europe experts participated in the Conference.
The conference created a platform for the media stakeholders from above countries to discuss some of the common challenges faced by them in the view of the war against Ukraine. It was also an opportunity to exchange among media professionals on good practice of coping with those challenges and connecting with each other.
The conference included five thematic panel sessions, focusing on major challenges faced by media in times of war and armed conflicts:
- safety of journalists during the war: mission (im)possible?
- combatting information disorder and propaganda
- hate speech in the media: how Russia’s aggression against Ukraine exacerbated already existing challenges (for media) and what is the way forward?
- media regulation in times of war and armed conflicts
- conflict-sensitive media coverage, with a focus on war reporting.
A separate panel session was dedicated to Ukraine, where representatives of Ukrainian media community shared their experiences on how the media landscape in the country has changed over the past months and described the current challenges.
Two side events were organised on the margins of the conference: photo exhibition “Russia’s war against Ukraine: Work of journalists”, and screening of the documentary MARIUPOLIS 2 - Festival de Cannes (festival-cannes.com) about the work of journalists in times of war, which won jury’s Special Award at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022.
The Conference was organised under the Council of Europe co-operation projects in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine. The co-operation programmes and technical assistance activities on freedom of expression and media are implemented by the Information Society Department, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe.
