The theme of the Conference was “Ethical Journalism in Extreme Conditions: The Challenge of Diversity.” More than 130 journalists, editors, producers and representatives of international journalist organisations took part in this year’s Conference.
The BIRN – Justice Report Editor presented at the plenary session a talk on “Reporting on Minorities in Zones of Tension.” The focus of Ahmetasevic’s presentation was media reporting on minorities who live in Bosnia, with particular emphasis on the rights of the Roma population. Last year Justice Report published a text on “Victims – Forgotten by Everybody,” focusing on the suffering of Roma in the course of the war in Bosnia. Not much research has been invested in the subject and nobody has been tried for those crimes as yet.
This theme generated much interest by the participants. The presentation was followed by a two-hour discussion on the current state minority rights and the present political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Besides Ahmetasevic, Institute for War and Peace Reporting associate based in Afghanistan, Said Yaqub Ibrahim, gave a presentation at this session.
Media professionals from India, Afghanistan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Norway, New Zealand, Macedonia, USA among others also participated in the Conference.
The Conference was co-organised by the Governments of Indonesia and Norway, with the help from the Government of New Zealand. The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Wirajuda, and State Secretary, Wegard Harsvik, on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry for Culture and Church opened the Conference.
The dialogue, which was jointly arranged by the Government of Norway and Indonesia, was initiated in the wake of the controversy regarding the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed. The theme and agenda of this year’s Conference was determined by members of a working group, composed of media professionals from those two countries.
The first Conference was held in Bali three years ago. The second one was held in Norway last year. The Justice Report Editor was one of the speakers at that Conference.
The Conference organizers would like to encourage cooperation between journalists from all over the world and thus develop a continuous dialogue and facilitate a discussion on the issues, which are of interest to all professional journalists.