What's next for the Eurasian Media Forum?
24.04.2002Saltanat Shalakhmetova is the director-general of the Corporate International Foundation of the Eurasian Media Forum, based in Almaty. She organized the Eurasian Media Forum under the supervision of Dariga Nazarbayeva. In this interview, she discusses the preparations, organization and results of the conference.
How was the first Eurasian Media Forum organized?
The forum was planned not as a purely professional gathering, but more as a get-together of people - practicing journalists, political figures, academics and other experts from the East and the West who are truly concerned with and interested in developments in Eurasia. The main idea was to debate key issues and facilitate a professional exchange of views.
Undoubtedly, much of the Eurasian Media Forum's success can be attributed to our numerous contributors and sponsors. To name just a few of them, these include the Khabar Broadcasting Agency as the main organizer, the Eurasia Center of Cambridge University, the Stefi (Britain) team, the Associated Press Television News partners, the International Journalist Unions' Confederation and many others.
What was the main result of the forum?
I believe the forum was an important professional event for our media community. The most important result of the Almaty forum was that it managed to bring together the representatives of about 50 countries - people with diverse political views and cultural and religious backgrounds. They were willing to come up with some joint approaches.
The common understanding of this togetherness was that the media is playing a key role, especially today in an atmosphere of heightened sensitivity to international differences and dangers.
What are your plans for the future?
We are analyzing the results of the first conference, and we are planning the preparation of the second forum, which will be held again in Kazakhstan next year.
Source: International Herald Tribune
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