Friday, april 25th, 2003

09.30—11.00: Plenary Session #4 (Ballroom)
EURASIA: CONFLICT AREAS AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA. CULTURAL CONTEXT
One of the founding cornerstones of the Eurasia Media Forum is the will to promote cultural dialogue and understanding between East and West. This session will examine how media in Eurasia and in the West has evolved and whether there is a presumption by those in the West that their mode of operation and values should automatically be replicated elsewhere across the democratized world. As Caucasus and Central Asian nations continue to advance, nearly 12 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have their cultural and societal ideologies and agendas moved any nearer more established democracies in Europe and North America? Does reporting in the West of the Eurasia region fairly represent the concerns and values of the regions societies?

Chair: Georges Leclere, Executive Director, the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, USA
Panelists:

Chingiz Aitmatov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to Belgium, writer and public figure
Olzhas Suleimenov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to UNESCO, writer and public figure
Mikhail Kozhokin, Editor-in-chief, «Izvestia» newspaper, Russia
Vitaliy Tretyakov, Editor-in-chief, «Mirovaya Energeticheskaya Politika» (World Energy Policy) Magazine, Russia
Giulio Pecora, Chief foreign editor, ANSA, Italy

11.00—11.30: Coffee break (Ballroom lobby)

11.30—13.00: Plenary Session #5 (Ballroom)
PUBLIC OPINION AND THE MEDIA: BRIDGING THE ISLAM-WEST DIVIDE
This panel will explore how Islam is covered by media in the West with a view to improving communications with Islamic communities. Is there a risk of media cultivating stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam in the media, and implying there is an explicit association of the Islamic religion with «international terrorism». Are the vocabularies and rhetoric used in depicting Islam and the Muslim culture correct and is the fundamental nature of the religion ever overstated? If so, is that down to a misunderstanding of religious, cultural and national diversity, or a more worrying ignorance or special agendas? Are some conflicts ascribed as being religious in the first instance without a more analytical approach to the deeper political and economic considerations?

Producer: East-West Institute, USA
Chair: John Mroz, President, East-West Institute, USA
Keynote speaker: Javed Jabbar, Senior Vice-President of the Millat Party, Pakistan
Panelists:

Riz Khan, Broadcaster, journalist, president, Rizkhan Productions, USA
Zaffar Abbas, BBC World Service Correspondent, Pakistan
Mikhail Meyer, Director, Middle East Department, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Russia
Bobomurod Abdullayev, Director, «OZOD OVOZ» (Free Voice), Uzbekistan

14.00—21.00: Cultural Excursion hosted by the Mayor of Almaty oblast Mr. Kulmakhanov.