Global Democracy – A Triumph for Social Networks?
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Orangery Sanssouci, Maulbeerallee, Potsdam
9.00 – 9.10 a.m.
WELCOME
Matthias Platzeck (Federal Minister of Brandenburg, Potsdam)
9.10 – 9.30 a.m.
OPENING SPEECH
Christopher Walker (Director of Studies, Freedom House, New York)
"The Influence and Limits of Revolutionary Media"
9.30 – 11.00 a.m.
PANEL I
THE ARAB REVOLUTION – A TRIUMPH FOR SOCIAL NETWORKS?
The Arab Spring was often dubbed "Twitter-" or "Facebook revolution" as one of the claims to be heard was that the movement would never have occurred without blogs and social media. Is that correct?
What was the impact of new media on the upheavals?To what extend and how do autocratic regimes exploit digital channels to pursue their own interests – e.g. to identify dissidents? What was the role of traditional media (e.g. Aljazeera)? The differences between the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Yemen and Libya
What role can blogs and social networks play after successful revolutions?
KEYNOTE
Sami Ben Gharbia (Advocacy Director, Global Voices / Co-Founder, nawaat.org, Tunis)
HOST
{tooltip}Golnaz Esfandiari {end-texte}Golnaz Esfandiari is a Senior Correspondent in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Central Newsroom and editor of the Persian Letters blog. Her reporting and analysis on Iran has been cited by various high-profile news media and features frequently in her twitter messages.{end-tooltip} (Senior correspondent, Radio Free Europe, Washington)
PANEL
Sami Ben Gharbia (Advocacy Director, Global Voices / Co-Founder, nawaat.org, Tunis); {tooltip} Sihem Bensedrine{end-texte}Sihem Bensedrine is the founder and editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Kalima. She is also co-founder and spokesperson of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia and president of the Arab Working Group of Media Monitoring. {end-tooltip} (Editor-in-chief , Radio Kalima, Tunis); {tooltip}Said Essoulami{end-texte}Said Essoulami is the executive director of the Centre for Media Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (CMF MENA). Essoulami conceived and initiated the Euro-Med Human Rights Network made up of more than 80 human rights NGOs from Europe and the Mediterranean. He is also the founder and president of the Arab Freedom of Information Network (AFOINET).{end-tooltip} (Centre for Media Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, Casablanca); {tooltip}Dr. Asiem El Difraoui{end-texte}Dr. Asiem El Difraoui works at the German Institute for International Politics and Security as a researcher at the project “Jihadism on the Internet: The Internationalization of Violent Discourses on the World Wide Web”. He the author of a number of award-winning TV documentaries and reportages.{end-tooltip} (Researcher, Institute for International Politics and Security (SWP), Berlin); {tooltip}Xan Smiley{end-texte}Xan Smiley has been Middle East and Africa editor at The Economist in London, since 2003. His previous assignments included Washington correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph (1989-92), Moscow correspondent for Daily Telegraph (1986-89) and Leader Writer, at the Times (1981-83).{end-tooltip} (Middle East and Africa Editor, The Economist, London)
OPEN PANEL DISCUSSION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
11.00 – 11.30 a.m.
COFFEE BREAK
presented by Plista
11.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
PANEL II
CONSEQUENCES OF THE ARAB REVOLUTION FOR CHINA, IRAN, EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
After calls for a Chinese Jasmine Revolution, modelled on the events in Tunisia, were heard more than a hundred dissidents, civil rights lawyers and blogger were arrested. Nevertheless, are similar events like the Middle East developments conceivable in China, Belarus or Iran? What are the arguments in favour and against it? Are there fundamental differences between digital and analogue revolutions (Serbia, Ukraine, and GDR)? Who benefits most from these developments? What does the cooperation between technology providers like Google, Skype, and firewall companies imply? What compromises have to be made?
KEYNOTE
{tooltip}Slobodan Djinovic{end-texte}Slobodan Djinovic is the founder of Serbia’s first wireless internet company CANVAS and a founder of the Resistance! movement (OTPOR) that ended the Milosevic era.{end-tooltip}(Founder, Canvas, Belgrade)
HOST
{tooltip}Andrian Kreye{end-texte}Andrian Kreye is editor of the Feuilleton (arts & ideas) section of the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. He was one of the founding editors of the magazine „Tempo“. After, he worked for various publications, including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, GEO, Stern, and Der Spiegel. He is the author of various books and documentaries.{end-tooltip} (Feuilliton (arts& ideas) editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich)
PANEL
{tooltip}Michael Anti{end-texte}Michael Anti one of the most famous and most-read blogger in China popular political columnist for various of Chinese and English media outlets. His well-known MSN blog on Chinese politics was removed by Microsoft in December 2005 under the pressure of Chinese government. {end-tooltip} (Veteran journalist and popular political columnist, Beijing); {tooltip}Slobodan Djinovic{end-texte}Slobodan Djinovic is the founder of Serbia’s first wireless internet company CANVAS and a founder of the Resistance! movement (OTPOR) that ended the Milosevic era.{end-tooltip} (Founder, Canvas, Serbia), {tooltip}William Echikson{end-texte}William Echikson is the Head of Free Expression Policy and Public Relations in EMEA for Google in Brussels.{end-tooltip} (Head of Free Expression Policy and PR in EMEA, Google, Brussels); {tooltip}Grzegorz Jankowski{end-texte}Grzegorz Jankowski is the editor-in-chief of the Polish daily FAKT based in Warsaw.Before he served as deputy editor-in-chief at the weekly magazine Newsweek.{end-tooltip} (Editor-in-chief, FAKT, Warsaw); {tooltip}Yan Rozum{end-texte}Yan Rozum is a founder of Telegraf.by – one of the leading online newspapers in Belarus published in Russian, English and Belarusian. Furthermore, he has been involved in various internet media projects in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other countries as an entrepreneur and a media consultant.{end-tooltip} (Founder, telegraf.by, Minsk); {tooltip}Jay Tolson{end-texte}Jay Tolson is the News Director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, Czech Republic. In addition to running the Radio’s central newsroom, Tolson oversees the production and coordination of news across the entire organization.{end-tooltip} (Head of news, Radio Free Europe, Prague)
OPEN PANEL DISCUSSION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
1.00 – 3.00 p.m.
LUNCH
Optional: Guided Tour through Sanssouci Park
3.00 – 4.30 p.m.
PANEL III
CONSEQUENCES AND EFFECTS FOR TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Whilst conventional media under autocrat governments are exposed to the influence and pressure of their despotic leaders and foreign correspondents from democratic countries are restrained from reporting freely, officially suppressed information is spread throughout the world via blogs; Twitter; Facebook & Co. How do these developments change traditional media? How did Central European countries like Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary managed to change their traditional news media after the historic changes in 1989? In how far do various media differ in handling censored information? Will traditional media become redundant? Or do they profit from these developments? What does the future hold for journalism in this regard?
KEYNOTE
{tooltip}Fathy Abou Hatab{end-texte}Fathy Abou Hatab is Managing Editor at Al Masry Al Youm, an independent Egyptian newspaper. As community manager, he put the Al-Masry Al-Youm online community on the top of all other Egyptian competitors as it has the largest amount of followers on Facebook and Twitter.{end-tooltip} (Managing Editor, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Cairo)
HOST
{tooltip}Astrid Frohloff{end-texte}Astrid Frohloff is a German TV presenter and journalist specialised in domestic politics and Middle Eastern affairs. Since 2009 she has been presenting the TV magazine „Kontraste“ on ARD and the show „Klartext“ on rbb. Astrid Frohloff is also an executive board member of the human rights organisation „Reporters Without Borders”.{end-tooltip} (Journalist and TV presenter, ARD/Reporters without Frontiers, Berlin)
PANEL
{tooltip}Fathy Abou Hatab{end-texte}Fathy Abou Hatab is Managing Editor at Al Masry Al Youm, an independent Egyptian newspaper. As community manager, he put the Al-Masry Al-Youm online community on the top of all other Egyptian competitors as it has the largest amount of followers on Facebook and Twitter.{end-tooltip} (Managing Editor, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Cairo); Mikhail Fishman (CIS /Russia Correspondent, Die Welt, Moscow);{tooltip}Christopher Walker{end-texte}Christopher Walker is director of studies at Freedom House, where he helps oversee a team of analysts and researchers in devising overall strategy for Freedom House’s analytical projects. His articles on freedom of the press and democracy issues have been published in a widely.{end-tooltip} (Director of Studies, Freedom House, New York); {tooltip}Jillian C. York{end-texte}Jillian C. York is the Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She writes regularly about free expression, politics, and the Internet, with particular focus on the Arab world. Jillian C. York is one of the co-founders and editors of Talk Morocco. She is also on the Board of Directors of Global Voices Online.{end-tooltip} (Director of International Freedom of Expression, Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco); Bernhard Zand (Foreign Desk Editor, Der Spiegel, Hamburg)
OPEN PANEL DISCUSSION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
4.30 – 6.00 p.m.
BREAK
5.00 – 5.30 p.m.
PRESS CONFERENCE
6.00 – 8.00 p.m.
THE M100 MEDIA AWARD CEREMONY
Raffaelsaal, Orangery Sanssouci
The M100 Media Award 2011 is presented to Michael Anti
The M100 Honorary Award 2011 is presented to Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea
WELCOME
Jann Jakobs
Lord Mayor of Potsdam
MAIN SPEECH
Sihem Bensedrine
Founder and Spokesperson National Council for Liberties, Tunis
LAUDATIO HONORARY AWARD
Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel
Former Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Vienna
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea
Institute for Strategic Dialogue; Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London
LAUDATIO MEDIA AWARD
Dr. Peter Frey
Editor-in-Chief, ZDF, Mainz
and
Thomas Osterkorn
Editor-in-Chief, Stern, Hamburg
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Michael Anti
Blogger and Journalist, Beijing
8.00 p.m.
GALA DINNER
Neue Kammern (New Chambers)
