Media Diversity Institute’s Third Time at the Fazana Media Fest

In tune with our commitment to the improvement of the media’s portrayal of women and better treatment by their employers in the media sector, MDI is proud to co-organise the Fazana Media Fest 2022, themed ‘Women and the Media’. The festival, which runs for its fourth year, will take place in Fazana, Croatia on 5-11 September.

In tune with our commitment to the improvement of the media’s portrayal of women and better treatment by their employers in the media sector, MDI is proud to co-organise the Fazana Media Fest 2022, themed ‘Women and the Media’. The festival, which runs for its fourth year, will take place in Fazana, Croatia on 5-11 September.

As co-organiser of the festival, MDI is hosting four panels to present the main achievements of the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0 (RDN2.0), our Western Balkan programme funded by the European Union, Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade. MDI’s panels will be livestreamed. The participants will have an opportunity to hear our latest findings relating to media coverage of women – (spoiler alert!) dominated by sexism and misogyny across the region – and discuss improvements of the relevant policies. Experts such as Dr Snjezana Milivojevic, formerly with the Belgrade-based Political Science Faculty and currently Dean of Bayan College in Oman, will lead a debate on ‘The position of Women in the Media’ while Dr Jovanka Matic will look for answers to the question ‘Are we all products?’ on digital platforms which we naively believe we are using pro bono.

We hope to find out whether the #MeToo movement and the recently introduced Digital Service Act have had any positive impact on or changes to, relevant policies and practices in the European media, with the focus on Western Balkan. We are also looking forward to learning more about BBC 50:50 Equality policy.

The festival will be opened by Mr Ognian Zlatev, Head of the EU Representation in Croatia, while one of the MDI panels discussing how can policies related to representation of women and its implementation be improved, will be moderated by will be moderated by the Head of European Parliament’s Information office in Croatia, Ms Violeta Simeonova Staničić.

‘We are proud to be co-organising this festival for several reasons: it is the most diversity-focused media festival in Europe; it is hosted by Fazana, the only town in the world with the official ‘friend of journalists’ status and it looks at media in the broadest possible way, not only as journalism. This is a great opportunity to meet with our RDN 2.0 partners and thank them for making the project a unique collaboration between like-minded individuals and organisations in the West Balkan,’ says Milica Pesic, MDI Executive Director.

The festival welcomes media actors – from reporters to owners – media experts, journalism academics and journalism students, but theatre and music lovers too.

Literature enthusiasts will have a special opportunity to meet writers such as Slavenka Drakulic whose latest book Invisible Woman and Other Stories brakes taboos such as aging. MDI is delighted that MDI Trustee Christina Pribichevich Zorić who will be with us in Fazana, is one of the translators of this book.

For more info contact Hana Kojakovic: hana@media-diversity.org

Watch this space for more updates.

You can find the festival’s programme by clicking on the link below: