CYPRUS COMMUNITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cmfe  will host the live stream

PLENARY SESSIONS: BRIEFS 

PLENARY SESSION 1 

The State of Community Media in Europe 

This plenary session will review recent cross-European community media policy and practice, including the 2008 resolution of the European Parliament and the 2009 Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, as well as the development of a participatory audiovisual network. 

Discussants

- Pieter de Wit, President, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) 

- Soledad Galliana, Vice President, AMARC Europe 

- Thierry Michel, European Participatory Audiovisual Media Network 

- Peter Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Community Media, London Metropolitan University 

 

Chair: Helmut Peissl, President, COMMIT, Austria 

PLENARY SESSION 2 

Community Media and the Arab Spring 

The location of the CMFE conference in a country which symbolises the crossroads of the Mediterranean inevitably brings our attention to the Arab Spring that has dominated the international news for much of 2011. Social and community media have been at the heart of many of the events as they have unfolded, providing access to independent news and information, a place to organise and a focus for media reform demands. This panel brings together community media activists from Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine to share their experience and to engage with the European community media movement. An opportunity to strengthen bridges and reinforce the contribution of community media to freedom, rights, justice and democracy. 

Discussants: 

- Fahem Boukadous, Radio Sawt Al Manajem (Voice of the Mines), Tunisia and Francesco Diasio, AMARC Europe/IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group 

 

People‟s Media and the Tunisian Revolution 

- Ahmed Samih, Radio Horytna, Egypt, 

 

Radio Horytna - Voices for Egyptian Freedom 

- Sawsan Zaideh, Vice-President MENA region, AMARC International / Radio Al Balad, Jordan Social movements / social media a Jordanian perspective 

- Lina Chawaf, Radio Arabesque, Syria 

 

Social media and the Syrian struggle 

- Daoud Kuttab, AmmanNet/Radio Al Balad, Jordan 

 

Media and Political Pluralism after the Arab Spring 

Concluding remarks: Emmanuel Boutterin, Vice President, AMARC International 

Chair: Steve Buckley, former President, AMARC/ IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group 

This panel is organized by the World Association of Community Radio broadcasters (AMARC) in collaboration with CMFE, and the support of IMS, AMARC and the Europe for Citizens Programme (EACEA) CMFE COMMUNITY MEDIA FORUM EUROPE

PLENARY SESSION 3 

Community Media, Intercultural Dialogue and Participation 

This plenary session will bring together examples of intercultural dialogue from practice and research and discuss media and cultural policy matters, including the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue of the Council of Europe. The session will aim also to be useful for Cypriot community media practitioners and policymakers to inform their work, as well as being of general interest to CMFE members and conference delegates. 

Discussants

- Reynald Blion, Media & Diversity Manager – Media Against Racism in Sport (MARS), Programme Manager - Directorate Democratic Governance, Culture & Diversity, Council of Europe 

- Stefan Tenner, Media Against Racism in Sport (MARS) Coordinator, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) 

- Ciaran Murray, Community Media Coordinator, NEARfm, Dublin 

- Helmut Peissl, President, COMMIT, Austria 

 

Chair: Nadia Bellardi, Vice President, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) 

PLENARY SESSION 4 

Towards an enabling Environment for Community Media in Cyprus 

This plenary session will bring together practitioners, researchers, policy and decisions makers to review the current status of community media practice and steps needed to work towards an enabling environment for community media in Cyprus. This session will be organised by CCMC. 

Discussants

- Vaia Doudaki, Cyprus University of Technology and Nico Carpentier, Loughborough University, United Kingdom/Free University of Brussels, Belgium 

 

Community Media for Peace-building, Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation: A roadmap to develop a bi-community radio station in Nicosia 

- Mashoed Bailie, Editor, Global Media Journal – Mediterranean Edition 

 

Conflict or Cooperation? Alternatives to the Ethnocentrism in the Cypriot Press 

- Berangere Blondeau, Media Education Teacher and Founding Board Member, International Children's Film Festival Cyprus 

 

Community Media and the preservation of cultural heritage: Cyprus Artefacts Treasure 

- John W. Higgins, [via Skype], Adjunct Professor of Rhetoric and Language, University of San Francisco, USA 

 

Best Practices: the CCMC and U.S. Public Access Television” 

- Christos Barboutis, URIAC, University of Athens, Greece 

 

Aspects of interdisciplinary media research: the case of community radio in Cyprus 

Discussant: Lawrie Hallett, University of Westminster, UK 

Chair: Angeliki Gazi, Cyprus University of Technology CMFE COMMUNITY MEDIA FORUM EUROPE

PLENARY SESSION 5 

Opportunities and challenges for Community Media in Europe: The Way Ahead 

Presentation of the ‘Cyprus Community Media Declaration’ 

This session will review the conference proceedings, as well as discuss issues relevant on the future of European community media practice as sustainability and digital switchover. The „Cyprus Community Media Declaration‟ will be presented to conference delegates and stakeholders. 

Discussants

- Arne Hintz, McGill University, Montreal, Canada [via Skype] 

 

Connecting with New Themes and Other Policy Initiatives 

- Frederike Maier, Leibniz University, Germany 

 

Bits and Bytes on the Air, and Community Radio? 

- Emmanuel Boutterin, Vice President, AMARC International 

- Placing community radio at the center of media challenges in 21st Century 

- Cyprus Community Media Centre 

 

Presentation of the „Cyprus Community Media Declaration‟ 

Concluding remarks: 

Pieter de Wit, President, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) 

CYPRUS COMMUNITY MEDIA DECLARATION

TO BE SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL AT THE ASSEMBLE DURING THE MEETINGS.

19 November : Nicosia, Cyprus

 

We the participants of the 1st Community Media Forum Europe Conference and General Assembly, held in Nicosia, Cyprus, 17-19 November 2011,

 

- Recalling Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

 

 - Recalling the Commission Communication of 20 December 2007 on a European approach to

media literacy in the digital environment (COM (2007) 0833); 

 

- Recalling the 2007 study commissioned by the European Parliament on ‘The State of

Community Media in the European Union’ 

 

- Recalling the European Parliament resolution of 25 September 2008 on Community Media in

Europe (2008/2011(INI)); 

 

- Recalling the Council of Europe Declaration (Decl-31.01.2007E) of the Committee of Ministers

on protecting the role of the media in democracy in the context of media concentration; 

 

- Recalling the Council of Europe Declaration (Decl-11.02.2009) of the Committee of Ministers

on the role of community media in promoting social cohesion and intercultural dialogue.

 

 

Define Community Media in Cyprus as:

- Non-profit making and politically independent, engaging primarily in activities of civil society

and/or in the public interest; 

 

- Accountable to the communities which it seeks to serve, providing accurate and fair

information;

 

- Open to the creation of content by civil society and members of the community, fostering a

spirit of active participation and volunteering; 

 

- Serving clearly defined objectives which always include social value and contribute to

intercultural dialogue; 

 

- Promoting effective dialogue and interaction between citizens and their elected

representatives, with the aim of strengthening democratic participation in decision-making; 

 

- Strengthening media pluralism by providing a variety of perspectives on issues that lie at the

heart of the communities served; 

 

- Improving the media literacy of all communities through their direct involvement in the creation

and distribution of content, and building up skills that can be used for further community media

participation; 

 

- Encouraging innovation, creativity and diversity of media content;

 

- Strengthening cultural and linguistic diversity, social inclusion and local

identity, which reflects the diversity of the community media sector; 

 

- Promoting intercultural dialogue by educating the general public, combating

negative stereotypes and correcting the ideas put forward by the mass media regarding communities

within society threatened with exclusion; 

 

- Playing a significant role in media skills training programmes involving external organisations,

including universities, and community members, and acting as a valuable hub for work experience;

demonstrating by example that the training of individuals in media production and editing skills

provides useful and transferable skills.

 

 

And declare that:

 - The Right to Communicate is a universal human right which serves and underpins all other

human rights, and which must be preserved and extended in the context of rapidly changing

information and communication technologies;

 

- All members of society should have just and equitable access to all communications media;

 

- Respect for pluralism, cultural, language, faith and gender diversity should be reflected

through all media as a fundamental element of democratic societies; 

 

- Access to the means of communication must be supported by education and training to assist

a critical understanding of the media and to enable people to develop their own media and

communication literacy and skills; 

 

- The market economy is not the only model for shaping communications infrastructure.

Citizens must be seen as producers and contributors of information and not be defined solely as

"consumers"; 

 

- Community Media is a positive force in reconciliation on the island and inclusion of all

communities into a multicultural Cyprus. 

 

We call on the relevant authorities and independent agencies to:

- Consider Community Media as a complimentary, grass-roots solution for increasing media

pluralism;

 

- Recognise the community broadcasting sector as an additional and essential form of public

service broadcasting, promoting freedom of expression and access to information; 

 

- Recognise Community Media as a distinct sector, operating in a pluralistic media landscape

alongside public and commercial media; 

 

- Make analogue and digital television and radio frequencies available to Community Media with

awareness of the social value they provide;

 

- Facilitate an enabling environment for Community media through the provision of funding

and/or other forms of financial assistance.

 

 

We call on the media in Cyprus to:

- Recognise Community Media as an additional component of the media landscape that

enriches debate and offers alternative perspectives for issues relevant in society;

 

 - Work collaboratively and in partnership with Community Media and civil society, sharing media

platforms and providing broadcast airtime to civil society-produced content;  

 

- Recognise the benefits of working together and producing joint content, with

the aim of providing information in the most accurate and fair way, and to showcase

the island’s diversity and culture;

 

 

- Recognise Community Media as a model for cooperation in the media of a future post-solution

Cyprus.

 

 

 We call on civil society to:

- Take greater ownership of Community Media, and recognise the benefits it can offer towards

amplifying unheard voices and messages;

 

 - Participate more actively in Community Media activities, and collaborate more effectively as a

sector with the aim of facilitating positive social change.

 

 

We call on educational institutions to:

- Support partnerships with Community Media institutions through research;

 

- Provide students with academic credit in exchange for Community Media-focused internships;

 

- Incorporate Community Media within curricula, and encourage delivery of courses by local

Community Media practitioners and researchers;

 

 - Share media facilities, technologies, equipment and broadcast services to joint productions

with Community Media actors.

 

 

We call on the private sector to:

- Embrace and partner with Community Media actors in public/private strategic partnerships;

 

- Provide direct financial and in-kind support to Community Media as part of their Corporate

Social Responsibility