Mikhail Kozhokin, Editor-in-chief, "Izvestia" newspaper, Russia
It is just a few years since we ceased to live in one country and began to learn how to live and work in a free market society. We have all faced the issue of press freedom and passed difficult tests. We have similar socio-economic conditions and we have all endured challenging years of political and economic reform. We have faced and continue to face similar problems in our work and also in our relationships with the state, the business community, and our readers.
Yet we share common interests as well as challenges. As citizens of our countries, we each strive to provide our readers with the most complete picture possible of global events. Each of us tries to create the most compelling news content and provide it more quickly than anyone else, but we are all part of one information space at the intersection of Europe and Asia.
Eurasian countries are playing increasingly noticeable roles in the global political and economic arenas. Events taking place in our part of the globe are watched very closely by the world's largest political, financial, legal, and environmental organizations. As a result of these conditions every word uttered or written by a journalist can create previously unexpected consequences. Logically therefore, forums such as this now assume a greater significance.
This is the second forum and I hope conferences of this kind will become an established tradition. The mass media of the region is currently experiencing a period of growth. The challenges some of us have passed and overcome and the lessons we have learnt are still ahead for others. Perhaps the Forum will help some avoid the mistakes, choose the right strategy and make the right steps. And, of course, we can raise the level of information exchange to a new level that will extend and enrich our common information space.
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