Panel Discussion: Is Truth the Answer to Propaganda?

© MANDY KLOETZER Photograph​y

Panel discussion "The Answer to Propaganda is truth - is it?" © MANDY KLOETZER Photography

© MANDY KLOETZER Photograph​y

(from left) Nenad Šebek, spokesperson of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in Sarajevo and former BBC correspondent, Susanne Kiefer, communication expert of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Christian Spahr, Head of KAS Media Program South East Europe and Gemma Pörzgen, freelance journalist and board member of "Reporters without Borders" in Berlin © MANDY KLOETZER Photography

© MANDY KLOETZER Photograph​y

Christian Spahr, Head of KAS Media Program South East Europe with the freelance journalist Gemma Pörzgen © MANDY KLOETZER Photography

Speakers were Gemma Pörzgen, freelance journalist and board member of "Reporters without Borders" in Berlin, Nenad Šebek, spokesperson of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in Sarajevo and former BBC correspondent, and Susanne Kiefer, communication expert of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Topics of the panel discussion included the experiences with media propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine and during the Yugoslav wars. The experts discussed what is necessary to deal with propaganda in a professional way and how it influences the role of journalists. A further key aspect was the communication of European values in this context.

Spahr stressed at the beginning that the war in Ukraine is not just a military conflict, but a conflict of narratives. Gemma Pörzgen said that the greatest difference to former propaganda is the role of the Internet and activities of paid trolls nowadays. They don’t just target the local population of the conflict zone but an international audience as well. According to Pörzgen, an example is the attempt of the Kremlin to create mistrust against European governments in the Ukraine conflict. Nenad Šebek replied that if the Russian propaganda is capable to destabilise the EU, this problem is caused to a great extent by communication errors of the EU. Pörzgen noted that the EU does not react to Russia’s actions with counter propaganda but instead concentrates on mediating facts and supporting quality journalism. Furthermore, Nenad Šebek, as a former BBC correspondent, commented on the influence of the media in former Yugoslavia.

n-ost is a German network for media reporting on Eastern Europe and an international NGO based in Berlin. 140 international correspondents, foreign editors and photographers from 25 countries participated in the n-ost media conference "Translating Worlds" in Berlin. The conference was supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

"We have a continuously closer-knit network of international topics and at the same time an increasingly growing interaction between media worlds. That’s another reason why we need more personal encounters of journalists, such as in the Translating Worlds conference," said n-ost managing director Hanno Gundert.