Event Reports

There is hope

Seventh Adenauer Lecture in SEE on the future of journalism

“There is hope for journalism, but serious efforts should be made,” said Markus Spillmann, founder and owner of the SPILLMANN Publizistik Strategie Management GmbH in Zurich, and former editor-in-chief of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) at the Adenauer Lecture. The event took place in November 2024 in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Resilience against anti-democratic values and disinformation

Between 7th and 9th of November 2024, the Sofia Information Integrity Forum welcomed more than 150 guests in Sofia to discuss the current policies, technologies, and capacities to build resilience against disinformation and malign influence.

KAS Academy of Political Communication:

Media, Messaging and Democracy in the 21st century

On September 25th-26th, 2024, the KAS Academy for Political Communication took place in Bucharest, Romania. This time dedicated to the topic “Media, Messaging and Democracy in the 21st century, the event was hosted by the KAS Media Programme South East Europe and the Sofia Security Forum.

Aiming for peaceful coexistence − Challenges of the dual broadcasting system

Between 8th and 11th September 2024, the KAS Media Programme South East Europe hosted a conference with media professionals from the region, Germany and Switzerland.

BIRN Summer School 2024 fosters cross-border investigative collaboration in the Balkans and beyond

The BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2024 was held from 19th to 24th of August in Mlini (Croatia) bringing together over 35 journalists from Central and Eastern Europe and Uzbekistan.

The Growing Importance of the Black Sea

By Bozhidar Alexandrov, scholar of KAS Media Programme South East Europe

The geopolitical importance of the Black Sea region is increasing in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. ‘The Growing Importance of the Black Sea’ conference, organized jointly by the Media Programme South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Sofia Security Forum, took place on 11-12 June 2024 in Varna, Bulgaria. It provided an opportunity for policymakers, military experts and media professionals from different countries from the region and Germany to meet and discuss these issues.

IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival

By Ajla Kalesic, scholar of KAS Media Programme South East Europe

The Media Programme South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung attended together with five journalists from the region the 2024 IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival, which was held in Sarajevo from May 22nd to May 24th, 2024.

Scholars' Annual Meeting: Media in a Changing World

By Bozhidar Alexandrov, scholar of KAS Media Programme South East Europe

The third Scholars’ Annual Meeting took place in the cultural capital of Bulgaria - the beautiful and ancient town of Plovdiv from 19th to 21st of April 2024. KAS scholars attended lectures by renowned experts and media practitioners and participated in insightful discussions.

20th Frankfurt Days on Media Law – Strategies against Disinformation and Propaganda

On 17 and 18 January 2024, the 20th Frankfurt Days on Media Law took place at the European University Viadrina. The main topic this time was "Strategies against disinformation and propaganda".

On the fringes of war

What are the effects of the Russian aggression against Ukraine on neighbouring countries? How does a country like Moldova deal with disinformation? These were some of the issues that about 30 journalists, editors-in-chief, and media experts debated at a KAS Media South East Europe conference in Chisinau/Moldova. Participants came from Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany.