Thursday, April 22

08.00-09.00:	Registration (Ballroom lobby, Regent hotel)
09.20-10.30:	Conference Opening (Ballroom) Conference Chair: Riz KHAN, Broadcaster, journalist, Riz Khan Productions, USA Welcome Address by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan NAZARBAYEV Message from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir PUTIN delivered by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia Vladimir BABICHEV Welcome Speech by Jan KUBIS, Secretary General, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Austria Video Message from HRH Prince Hassan bin TALAL of Jordan Welcome Address by Grigoriy RAPOTA, Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community Welcome Address by Professor Armen SARKISSIAN, Director, Eurasia Programme, Cambridge University; Eurasia House International; former Prime-Minister of Armenia, United Kingdom Welcome and Conference Introduction by the Chair of the Eurasian Media Forum Organizing Committee, Dr. Dariga NAZARBAYEVA
10.30-11.00:	Coffee break (Ballroom lobby)
11.00-13.00:	Plenary Session #1 (Ballroom) )

ELECTIONS AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA: A POLITICAL MODERATOR OR A SOURCE OF DESTABILIZATION?

2004 is the year of Big Elections - both in Russia and the United States with presidential elections in March and November. There has also been the traumatic election in Spain where the result was totally changed by the terrorist bombings in Madrid. South Africa is also going to the polls again a decade after the end of apartheid though the people of Iraq may have to wait until next year before voting on their future. At election time the role of the mass media always comes under intensive scrutiny. Do journalists report in an objective way without political bias or comment? Are they allowed to? How fair are the legal limitations imposed on the activities of journalists in election time by governments around the world? Does the media focus enough on the issues that matter to voters? Or, as one media watchdog in the United States put it, are journalists much more interested in the excitement of the horserace itself?
The media in post-Soviet countries played an important role in helping to establish modern electoral systems. But what has been the record of local journalists in covering these more democratic contests?

Chair: Riz Khan, Broadcaster, journalist, Riz Khan Productions, USA
Panelists:
Gleb Pavlovskiy, President, Effective Policy Foundation, Russia
Sheila Gunn, Associate Director, GPC International, freelance political journalist and commentator, UK
Dr. Ariel Cohen, Research fellow, Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security, the Heritage Foundation, USA
Dosym Satpayev, Director, Political Risk Assessment Group, Kazakhstan

13.00-14.00:	Lunch (Asian Cafe, Regent hotel)
14.00-15.30:	Plenary Session #2 (Ballroom)

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN REBUILDING THE MEDIA IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES

The conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo have led to a big change in the media landscape in those countries. But how successful has the rebuilding been and what mistakes have been made? This session examines the record of international organisations, local groups and politicians who have been involved in trying to establish democratic newspapers, radio and television stations. What are the obstacles to building democracy and how free are these new media institutions from both international and local vested interests? How effective have the myriad of training schemes been and how realistic is it to expect local journalists struggling with scant resources in the aftermath of recent traumatic events to make a difference quickly? The debate will be joined by those who have advised on media policy in post-conflict countries and those who are actually working in the media there.

Producer: Keith Bowers, freelance producer, Ewa Ewart, BBC producer, UK
Chair: Stephen Claypole, Chairman, DMA Media Ltd., UK
Panelists:
Richard Perle, Resident Fellow at American Enterprise Institute; former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003); former Assistant Secretary of Defense (1981-1987)
Gunter Knabe, Diplomatic Correspondent (Asia/Islam World), Deutsche Welle TV and Radio International, Germany
Dara Hassan Reshid, Head of the Committee for New Iraqi Media Infrastructure Reconstruction, Special Advisor on Media Matters to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime-Minister, Iraq
Eugen Saracini, News director, Radio Television 21, Kosovo

15.30-16.00	Coffee break (Ballroom lobby)
16.00-18.00:	Plenary Session #3 (Ballroom)

PAYING THE PIPER

The old saying of he who pays the piper calls the tune is never more apt than when considering who owns the media. Newspapers, radio and TV stations come under enormous pressures whichever model of ownership is in play - be it state-owned, public service or privately-owned. This debate will focus on the issues of media ownership in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. Can state-run media enterprises ever tell the whole truth and how worried should we be by the recent return to state ownership of the media in Russia? Can the public service model, which is under political and financial pressure in countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada survive well into the 21st century? And what dangers are posed to freedom of information by the growth of private media moguls with their own political agendas? Leading figures in a range of media will debate the pros and cons of the different types of media ownership.

Producer: Keith Bowers, freelance producer, UK
Video Address from Walter Cronkite, Former anchorman and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, USA
Chair: John Owen, Trustee, Institute of War and Peace Reporting, UK
Panelists:
Sheila Gunn, Associate Director, GPC International, freelance political journalist and commentator, UK
Vitaliy Tretyakov, Author and host of "Chto Delat?" program, "Culture" TV channel, Russia
Akram Khouzam, Moscow Bureau Chief, Al-Jazeera Channel
Toshiyuki Sato, Director-general, International Planning and Broadcasting Department, NHK, Japan
Armanzhan Baitasov, President, "31 channel" media holding, Kazakhstan

18.00-22.00:

Reception hosted by the Almaty city Mayor Mr. Victor Khrapunov