Introduction

By R. Gonzalez, European Desk, Communication Division.

The European Seminar on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 10-13 September 1997. The 200 communication professionals attending the meeting identified the major communication challenges and difficulties in Europe, with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe. In the area of communication development these can be summarized as follows: o Truly independent, representative associations, syndicates or trade unions of journalists, and associations of editors and publishers should be established and/or reinforced. o In all media the professional independence and journalistic and editorial freedom should be recognized. State-owned broadcasting and news agencies should, as a matter of priority, be reformed and granted statutes of journalistic and editorial independence as open public service institutions. If supervisory regulatory broadcasting authorities are established, they must be fully independent of government. Creation of independent news agencies as well as private and/or community-owned broadcasting media, including in rural areas, should also be encouraged. o Special efforts should be made to support the creation of in-country journalism educational and training structures, in order to ensure the development of independent journalism and free media. o Taking into account the economic and social conditions which prevail in Central and Eastern European countries, including discrepancies within this sub-region, the international community (international organizations, development agencies and professional associations) should as a matter of priority agree long-term sustainable funding support directed towards the development of all independent media. In addition, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, intergovernmental organizations and donor agencies concerned, should work together to establish an independent Media Loan Fund. o The advent of new information and communication technologies representing new channels for the free flow of information could and should contribute to pluralism, economic and social development, democracy and peace. The access to and the use of these new media should be afforded the same freedom of expression and protections as traditional media. o Xenophobia and clashes between different ethnic and religious groups threaten peace and democracy in many parts of Europe. Training programmes on journalistic ethics should sensitize journalists to prejudices and discrimination. It is also necessary to develop better recruitment policies within the media, to encourage journalists and journalism from ethnic and minority communities. The need for assistance in the area of communication development is tremendous in most Central and Eastern European countries but extra-budgetary projects in these countries are giving encouraging results. A Media Institute has been set up in Albania with IPDC funding in collaboration with the Danish School of Journalism. The Institute is multi-functional, offering conferences, round tables, training courses and research possibilities for journalists. Equipment-wise it is the most modern media institution in Albania. IPDC Project «Republic of Armenia: Establishment of interrelations with the world television network» provided subtitling equipment to the State Television in March 1998. Thanks to the French FIT arrangements, news agency development projects have been possible in Bulgaria and Romania. As for the extra-budgetary activities in informatics in Europe, these focus on the development of training materials on informatics. The materials developed for the European projects serve trainers and students world-wide. Special attention is paid to applications in the field of business. A special feature of extra-budgetary co-operation in this region is the interest of UNDP in providing additional funding to such projects, wich are considered by this agency as contributing to its major socio-economic objectives.