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Arhiva priopćenjaSEEMO izdaje novu knjigu o medijima i manjinama u jugoistoènoj Europi03.07.2006.
Vienna, 30 June 2006
PRESS RELEASE SEEMO to Publish New Book on Media and Minorities in South East Europe The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is proud to announce that, in the next few days, it will publish "Media and Minorities in South East Europe." The editors of the book are Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General and Prof. Thomas A. Bauer of the University of Vienna. As a first of its kind, the book covers the situation of minorities and the media in: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Macedonia - FYROM, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia / Kosovo, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. SEEMO has tried to report on both officially recognised minorities in this region and those that do not have an official minority status in some countries. The book includes presentations by some minority media outlets, as well as a contact list of selected media. There are also special reports on the minority media of Roma and Vlachian / Aromanian in the region. Other special reports cover the legal framework and the education of minority media representatives. The book also gives an overview of minorities and the media and reviews of several important international and regional conventions, declarations, guidelines, instruments, conclusions and recommendations regarding minorities, languages and media. Ursula Plassnik, Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs said in her introduction to the new book: "The region of South East Europe, and particularly the Western Balkans, constitutes one of the main foreign policy priorities of the current Austrian EU Presidency. At our informal meeting in Salzburg in March 2006 the Foreign Ministers of the EU and the countries of the Western Balkan jointly adopted a declaration reaffirming and strengthening the European perspective for the countries of the Western Balkans. By doing so, we sent a strong signal of encouragement and of joint political will to the whole region. Our common goal is to draw the countries of the Western Balkans closer to European structures and, thus, to our European community of values. The Western Balkans is part of Europe’s history and will be part of our common future. In the last years the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has successfully built up a reputation as a key actor of civil society, committed to promoting freedom of the press and professional journalistic standards, and thereby contributing to the development of democratic societies in the region." She added: "I therefore appreciate SEEMO’s commitment to fostering mutual understanding between majorities and minorities." The introduction by the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Miklós Haraszti, states: "The essence of the democracy assumes the full inclusion and integration of all peoples into the life of the nation, no matter what language they speak." About minority media he said: "We have identified some key problems holding back the development of the minority media: Minority media outlets are hardly ever economically viable; Low training in diversity reporting; Lack of collegial solidarity between journalists from different ethnic backgrounds. The results of our projects have also shown that, despite all differences that are determining the working environment of the minority media in the different countries, the following factors have universal validity: 1. The role of public service broadcasters is still vitally important. The private sector alone cannot guarantee per se a pluralistic media landscape. 2. Support from the government is of crucial importance for the survival of minority media. The practice of direct state funding always leaves room for state control over media and should be avoided. Following the examples of some multilingual democracies, mechanisms of indirect support, such as tax benefits, reduced postage costs or cross-subsidies, should be considered in order to enable minority media to operate independently. 3. The media, both mainstream and minority, should promote mutual understanding in multilingual societies by reflecting the multi-ethnic and multilingual society instead of focusing only on their own community.” For further information please contact the SEEMO office in Vienna by sending an e-mail to: info@seemo.org SEEMO - IPI, Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria, Tel (SEEMO+HELP LINE): +43 1 513 39 40, Tel (SEEMO): +43 1 512 90 11 11, Fax: +43 1 512 90 15, E-mail: info@seemo.org, Web: http://www.seemo.org **** This information is sent to you in compliance with the Austrian Telekommunikationsgesetz (TKG §107). If you do not want to receive further mailings, please send an e-mail with "UNSUBSCRIBE" to: info@seemo.org
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