April 2022 Newsletter: Can the media survive the extinction?

April has been very exciting for Media Diversity Institute! Following a two year break due to the global pandemic, the International Journalism Festival in Perugia returned with a series of great discussions about journalism and more broadly the media.  

Our panel “Surviving the extinction: from post-truth and infodemic to public interest media” with Sharon Moshavi, president of the International Centre for Journalists, Peter Pomerantsev, research fellow at Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and Jovanka Matic, research fellow at the Institute for Social Sciences in Belgrade, was moderated by Media Diversity Institute’s Executive Director, Milica Pesic. 

During the discussion several important questions were raised which the media and those who work in that field will have to think about: Should diversity be one of the criteria for funding public interest media (PIM)?? Can PIM attract the audiences which do not trust journalism anymore? Is PIM capable of including “others” in public debates on issues of common interest, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, and age? Is infotainment inclusive of diversity an answer?  

These are questions that are part of our work at Media Diversity Institute and although we may not have the answers now we will keep working on trying to find answers based on our core values of diversity, inclusion and freeform of speech.

Perugia Declaration for Ukraine

We would also like to highlight another important initiative that Media Diversity Institute wholeheartedly supports. The Global Forum for Media Development along with the Perugia Journalism Festival  launched the Perugia Declaration for Ukraine which calls for increased support of independent media and journalists in Ukraine.  

You can read it here and add your signature here

Our Publications: Inclusive Journalism Handbook

Media Diversity Institute developed an Inclusive Journalism Handbook aimed at academics, journalism students and journalists providing them with the main principles of diversity and inclusion, responsible reporting in the age of increasing inequalities and divisions. The Handbook is an excellent resource not only for the journalists, academics, and students in the Chinese context but across the world. The authors of the Handbook are Dr. Verica Rupar and Dr. Chao Zhang.” 

You can download the handbook here.  

Our News

On 14 April Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans organised an one day conference in Belgrade.“Who asked for her opinion: Women’s representation in the media” looked at gender equality and the representation of women in the media, problematic media reporting, as well as what reporting should look like. On that occasion, BeFem’s Feminist Media Declaration was presented.  

In early April, Get The Trolls Out! Sri Lanka organised a two-day workshop for CSOs on campaigning and countering hate speech online. The workshop was led by our international trainer Dasha Ilic with our colleagues from Hashtag Generation. Due to the protest movement that is currently shaking the country the third day of the workshop could not go ahead. We would like to share our well wishes with our colleagues and partners in the country and hope for things to calm down soon.  

On 4 April  a group of GERIS Network members visited South Africa with the intention to learn more about   ‘Shared citizenship’ concept. The opportunity  was used to discuss and learn about the issues of migration and the positive experience of coexistence and inclusion. 

Finally, in early April our Communication Manager Marianna Karakoulaki gave a lecture at the Basque Country University. During that presentation she talked about our work and projects and discussed ways that we help to create inclusive media environments.  


You can read our newsletter here