Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum
MEDIA IN PEACEBUILDING AND CONFLICT PREVENTION

1 – 4 June 2008

The modern approach to creating independent media organisations was largely developed during the Cold War. However, the conditions that led to the transformation of a dictatorship into a democracy, the dissolution of the state media monopoly and the founding of private press institutions after the Warsaw Pact do not match the current situation in developing countries.

The changes in the former Soviet bloc states were not the result of a war, most people were literate and so-called “media-terrorism” — a term that was coined after the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London — was non-existent.

Today, many post-conflict countries are faced with completely new challenges. Steps to establish media mustn’t shake the already rocky peace and have to achieve hasty success, while at the same time laying the foundation for fundamental reforms. Precisely these challenges are the focus of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. Renowned representatives from the fields of media and politics, culture and economics, development work and science are invited to help shape new solutions for peace and conflict prevention.

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