The second day of the media summit in Lech am Arlberg: intimidation strategies in …
European Media Summit Lech am Arlberg
Lech am Arlberg (ots)
Day two of the media summit in Lech will deal with topics such as the importance of social media. Clemens Pig (CEO APA) spoke in his keynote about the pressure for news agencies.
The second day was opened by the students from the University of Innsbruck Clara Bitter and Michael Schlegel. This opened the debate about the “Generation Protest”. “We are definitely dealing with a protest generation,” explained Benedict Narodoslavsky, journalist and author of the book Inside Fridays for Future. According to the representative of the University of Innsbruck, the “Fridays for Future” initiative manages to mobilize thousands of people on the streets and has organized the world’s first climate strike. Regarding the initiative, however, Narodoslawsky warned against false reports circulating in the media. Allegations of littered inner cities, for example, are not true. This “fake news” needs to be debunked.
This manipulation and propaganda also knows Natalia Niederkofler, member of the crisis coordination staff of the Ukrainian community in Innsbruck. “Normally we should trust the media, this is not the case in Russia,” said Niederkofler. There it is hopeless to protest against the government’s propaganda. These are – if at all – individual protests. Clara Rauchegger, assistant professor for European law and digitization law at the University of Innsbruck, but also saw “great opportunities” that would arise from the media. Politicians – and in this context the EU – should control social media to a certain extent. There is currently a proposal from the EU – the “Digital Services Act”: a package that filters the various algorithms on the platforms. You can choose whether the algorithm WILL be used at all or exactly what information should be sifted through. “The conditions on the platforms are tough, there can be big penalties. The EU Commission is not hesitating here, because the whole world is looking at us and watching that something is finally happening,” says Rauchegger.
“The war in Ukraine and the two years of the pandemic are just the tip of the iceberg for the Austrian media,” he said Clemens Schwein his contribution with regard to the production pressure for agencies. It is important to protect independent agencies, because there are fewer and fewer reliable ones in Europe and worldwide. Above all, the war in Ukraine now shows the problems in the Russian media landscape. The numerous restrictions and threats would deprive the free media of any journalistic basis. That is why the fact check on all platforms – especially on social media – is of the utmost importance.
In the talk about the various methods of intimidating journalists, among others Matthew Caruana Galizia, Director of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation. The journalist has a personal connection to the subject, since his mother, who was also a journalist, was murdered as part of an investigative story. “The more you do your job properly, the more attention and legal processes it brings,” explained the journalist. It is important to change the art of how the EU fights corruption. The editors would network with each other worldwide, exchange ideas and work together. The absence of the police, describes Galizia. The authorities would not communicate with each other: “They still have some catching up to do in this regard.” Florian Skrab, editor-in-chief of “Dossier”, explained three forms of intimidation: “Firstly, you try to keep the journalist from working and deny him access to certain events. Then you withdraw the advertisements that are important for the economic situation of the newspaper. And the third obstacle is the legal process that you have to face and that costs money.” Corruption is widespread in the media, including in Poland. Boguslav Chrabota, Editor-in-Chief of Rzeczpospolita Daily News in Poland, reports that a large proportion of federal funds flow into certain media outlets, making them dependent on their support and controlling their contributions. However, some would resist: “The government opposes freedom of the press, but we still have a large number of independent media that oppose it. We are suspected by the state, but we protect our freedom,” said Chrabota.
About the European Media Summit Lech am Arlberg
Since it was founded in 2007, the European Media Summit in Lech am Arlberg has provided an exceptional framework for discussions in which unfiltered insights and well-founded perspectives on the persistently turbulent world of media, European politics and the economic and political context of European everyday life are required. The European Media Summit, which is under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – announced by the communications agency ProMedia Kommunikation and has since been organized with Lech Zürs Tourismus GmbH and the Association of Foreign Press in Vienna – is organized by the municipality of Lech and the states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, the European Parliament under Vice President Othmar Karas, the press club Concordia and the Association of Foreign Press Berlin. Other partners are the Tirol Tourist Board, PEMA, the BTV Bank for Tirol and Vorarlberg and BMW. The media academy is supported by APA – Austria Press Agency, the European Parliament, Moser Holding GmbH and Russ Media. The event’s media partners are APA – Austria Press Agency, Der Standard, Tiroler Tageszeitung and Vorarlberger Nachrichten.
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Press contact:
European Media Summit
Mag. Sabine Fruehauf-Aigner
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Original content from: European Media Summit Lech am Arlberg, transmitted by news aktuell