Politics and Media for Minorities: Media forum organised by FUEN in Berlin

Why are minorities so rarely portrayed in the mainstream media? What influence do minority representatives have in politics? Which role do minorities play in the European regions? Which strategies are necessary for presenting minorities in an authentic and differentiated manner? Can the Minority SafePack Initiative become a game-changer? FUEN’s Media Forum entitled "Politics and Media for Minorities: Information, Network, Communication" focuses on these current minority issues.

The Media Forum, taking place from February 1st and 2nd in Berlin, is an international discussion platform, which brings together political and media representatives to discuss, think and find solutions together. The Forum, with German-speaking and international media representatives aims to combine and promote the networking of classical print media as well as the development of the online media of minorities or ethnic groups of Europe. Journalists from Germany, Romania, Latvia, Poland, Hungarian, Moldova, Austria, Russia, Kazakhstan, Italy and Croatia will contribute with their own experiences to the discussions.

The Forum is structured through three different modules. The first module will focus on addressing ‘politics’. Which role do minorities play on a European-, national- and regional level? To discuss these thematic areas, political representatives from Brussels, Germany as well as representatives from European regions were invited. Hartmut Koschyk, former Commissioner for the Resettlement and National Minorities (MO); Dr. Renate Harcke, Manager and Consultant for constitutional issues, federal affairs, cooperation between Brandenburg and Berlin as well as minority politics and Erhard Weimann, State Secretary and Plenipotentiary of the Free State of Saxony to the Confederation will take part in this module.

The second phase mainly focuses on the ‘media’. What do media representatives think and how do we attract public attention to minority focal points? Are minorities a topic or how could they become one? What are the ‘trendy brands’ and how could we draw public attention to the role of minorities in a common Europe? During this phase, media representatives working for different networks, Europe-wide media platforms, print- as well as online media will be asked.

The third part will focus on ‘networking’. How do we connect minority media better? What works well and where could we identify deficits? At this point, the minority media representatives will have the opportunity to present themselves and to gather ‘best practice’ examples. The forum ends with an exchange and dialogue between the participants.

 Media Forum's Programme

 The project was supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and funded by the Federal Republic of Germany.