Executive Report

Rapporteur: John Owen-Davies *
with additional reporting by Stephen Somerville **

“This is an unique meeting point for countries of East and West”
– Jim Laurie, Director of Broadcasting, University of Hong Kong

The Eurasian Media Forum marked its fifth anniversary on April 20-22, 2006, with a series of discussions on a wide range of topics, including tensions between Iran and the international community, the emergence of China, the aftermath of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and the rapidly changing media world. It brought together a diverse cross-section of journalists, politicians, defence and security experts, lawyers and academics for a series of lively debates that sometimes stirred emotions and frequently brought fresh perspectives to bear on major issues. Speakers at the Forum included two of America’s most influential strategists – Richard Holbrooke and Richard Perle, senior officials from NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Central Asian experts from CIS countries and leading economists.

The Eurasian Media Forum (EAMF) is a non-political organisation founded in Kazakhstan to promote East-West understanding through dialogue.
The 2006 Forum was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan - through which passed the once great Silk Road linking Orient and Occident. It brought together 310 participants from 39 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Africa.
The first Forum was held in Almaty in April 2002, only seven months after the devastating al Qaeda attacks on New York’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon in Washington and amid much talk of a “clash of civilisations”.

Dr Dariga Nazarbayeva, Chair of the EAMF Organising Committee, said in the opening session of the fifth Forum that the annual gathering had proved to be necessary.
“It occurred at the right time in the right place. And I dare to hope that it will still be helpful to the international journalistic community as a means of understanding and searching for truth,” she said.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan said in a welcoming statement: “Many events that occurred in the last few years once again demonstrated the significance of culture and civilisation differences and the complexity of inter-ethnic relations these days.

“That is why a dialogue between cultures taking various forms and involving journalists, experts and analysts is becoming increasingly necessary. I believe that this Forum can contribute to discussing such issues.”

Boris Gryzlov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, in an address read out on his behalf, said: “Thanks to the effective work of the Forum, more and more individuals with a special interest in the items on the agenda are attending it. This is evidence of the increasingly growing significance of the Forum.”
Jim Laurie, an international journalist and broadcaster who is Director of Broadcasting at the University of Hong Kong, chaired the 2006 Forum. He called it “an unique meeting point for countries of East and West”.
The Forum's stated aims are to promote the concept of Eurasia, to encourage the development of its mass media, to help a professional exchange of views on fresh challenges faced by the media and to build a continuing dialogue between East and West.

Leading delegates and speakers at the 2005 Forum included Armen Sarkissian, Director of the Eurasia Programme at Cambridge University and a former Armenian prime minister; Richard Holbrooke, Chairman of the Asia Society and former US ambassador to the UN; Richard Perle, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and a former US assistant secretary of defense; Jim Laurie, Director of Broadcasting, University of Hong Kong; Hummaa Ahmad, Executive Editor, The News International, Pakistan; Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, Director of the Institute of Social and Political Research in Russia; Nawal Kishore Choudhary, Director General and CEO of Mittal Steel Temirtau; Kenneth Courtis, former Director of Goldman Sachs Asia; Ammar Bakkar, Editor-in-Chief of Alarabiya.net and head of New Media Unit, Al-Arabiya News Channel; Serge Schmemann, Editor, International Herald Tribune, France; Robert Simmons, NATO secretary-general’s special representative for Central Asia and the Caucasus; Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Austria; Dara Hassan Rashid, special representative to the president on the reconstruction and development of Kurdistan, Iraq; Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation (USA); Prem Prakash, Chairman, Asian News International, India; Claude Salhani, International Editor, United Press International; Werner Rumphorst, Director of the legal department at the European Broadcasting Union, Switzerland; Yoshinori Imai, Executive Editor, NHK, Japan; Sergey Brilev, presenter, “Russia” television channel, Russia; Margaret Ward, Foreign Editor, RTE, Ireland; John Defterios, Vice President Content and Principal Anchor, FBC, United Kingdom; Veran Matic, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, B92 independent radio and television station, Serbia; Danny Schechter, Editor, MediaChannel.org, USA; and Michael Rosenblum, President, Rosenblum Associates, television production and consultancy, USA.

THE CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE: THE EMERGENCE OF CHINA, INDIA & CENTRAL ASIA
PUBLIC BROADCASTING: OLD MODELS & NEW CHALLENGES
GLOBAL NEWS SHAKEDOWN
FIRE IN THE SUBURBS - MULTICULTURALISM, NATIONALISM & IMMIGRATION - ROLE OF THE STATE & RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEDIA
IRAN - THE POLITICS & MEDIA OF BRINKMANSHIP
NATION BUILDING - ACHIEVABLE GOAL OR COLONIAL PIPEDREAM?
MEDIA OF THE MASSES
CROSSING THE LINE BETWEEN HUMOUR AND OFFENCE?
CONCLUSION

* John Owen-Davies is a former Reuters bureau chief and correspondent in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
** Stephen Somerville is Chairman, The Reuters Society and former Director of the Reuters Foundation.