PODGORICA, 19.11.2018. – About 100 media experts, journalists, representatives of universities and media will gather in Podgorica, Montenegro on Thursday and Friday (November 22nd and 23rd) at the Freedom of the media and the safety of journalists in the Western Balkans conference.
The host of the conference, organized within the framework of the project Western Balkans Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalist’ Safety, is the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (SMCG). SMCG is one of the partners in the project and member of the network composed by the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, the Association of BH Journalists, the Croatian Journalists Association and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Macedonia. The network gathers about 8,000 media workers, making it the largest and most representative in the region.
The establishment of a joint regional mechanism for monitoring the level of media freedom and safety of journalists, as well as advocating for their increase, was the main goal that brought together in December 2015 the most prominent journalists associations and the trade union in the Western Balkans region. A unique three-year project, approved by the European Commission, has achieved its goal through numerous activities.
The conference will present everything that has been done over the past three years. The event will be held at the Hotel Podgorica, and the speakers who will open the conference are Zoran Pažin, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro, Aivo Orav, Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Henk van den Dool, Ambassador of the Netherlands, Prof. Dr. Snežana Trpevska, Chief Researcher at project and Marijana Camović, President of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro.
Through numerous panel discussions and workshops that will be conducted by experienced journalists and media experts from Montenegro and the region, there will be words about the safety of journalists, advertising in the media, digital media, status in editorial offices, free access to information, political and economic pressures to journalists and editorial offices, media legislation in the Western Balkans…
The conference is supported by the European Commission, the Government of Montenegro and the Embassy of the Netherlands.
For more information about the project and activities click here.
