Richard Melson

August 2004

The Eurasian Media Forum (EAMF) is a major Kazakhstan/Central Asia geopolitical "think tank" with an Annual Forum in Almaty. This year’s 2004 Conference was held in Almaty from April 22-24, and is described below.

Notice the names of Richard Perle, one of the main organizers of the "Jerusalem Summits and Ariel Cohen, extreme Zionist neo-cons.

What Perle and Cohen want is:

• Military bases which can be used to control the area and intimidate "enemies" of Israel or the neo-cons themselves. This is the Rumsfeld-Feith vision.
• To explore the possibility of somehow "breaking OPEC" via Russian/Caspian/Central Asia oil and gas.
• Help bribe and "buy" local leaders to get the docility they want vis-a-vis the US and Israel.
• Make sure that no worldwide interregional "pan-Islamic" movement or feeling or politics can arise which could comprise a power bloc to mount a challenge to "Isra-America."
• Try to enrich themselves in the meantime as lobbyists for leaders there where they obtain gigantic fees for keeping the "money pipeline," connecting Washington-to-Almaty-Central Asian govermental puppets, full of money.
• Have the military in Central Asia commit to American weaponry with the neo-cons like Perle and Cohen playing the power broker role between the American defense companies, the Central Asian leaders, the generals, etc and thus create a "virtuous circle" of power and influence and contracts.
• Make sure that all this fits in with the goals of the "Jerusalem Summits"

"The Eurasian Media Forum – an organisation with no political, economic or ideological allegiances – aims to examine the concept of Eurasia, to promote the development of its mass media, to facilitate a professional exchange of views on the new challenges faced by the media community in the new Millennium and, ultimately, to build a continuing dialogue between the East and the West.

The Eurasian Media Forum is the prominent international media initiative in Eurasia that aims to facilitate the professional development of the Eurasian media and to promote international understanding of Eurasian issues. It aims to do this by - analysing the current state of the regional media and its development; discussing the current issues affecting the Eurasian media and its development; providing a platform for discussions on the role and place of the Eurasian continent within global development discussions; and by creating opportunities to build new partnerships and initiate new collaborations.

Thus, the Eurasian Media Forum is concerned with the political, cultural and social impacts of the media at a time when it faces the challenge of preserving a politically stable and secure World.

The first Eurasian Media Forum conference took place in Almaty between 25th and 27th April 2002 and brought together invited journalists and experts from both the East and the West, all with a common interest in the Eurasian concept and the issues affecting the continent.

The Eurasian Media Forum was initiated by the Kazakhstan National Khabar News Agency in 2001 and was officially registered as a non-profit, non-governmental organization - the Eurasian Media Forum Foundation in Almaty. The idea of EAMF was developed and promoted with great support from a number of leading international, CIS and local media organizations, including Eurasia Center of the University of Cambridge, International Journalist Unions Confederation, Associated Press Television News, BBC, Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies, Intergovernmental TV-radio Company "MIR", Journalist Unions of Russia and Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan TV and Radio Broadcasters’ Association, etc.

Practising journalists from international news organisations, including the Associated Press, the BBC and Reuters, gathered for the first EAMF conference in Almaty, together with representatives of professional media bodies such as the International Press Institute (IPI), the Organisation of Asian News Agencies (OANA) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). Journalists working in all media platforms - print, broadcasting and web - represented each of their fields at the Forum.

The Eurasian Media Forum is to become an annual professional event to serve the interests of the international media community and to promote the role of the Eurasian media and Eurasian continent in the global development.

The goals of Eurasian Media Forum will also be pursued through an extensive program of supplementary conferences, seminars, training, research and reporting initiatives to be carried out in partnership with major European, Asian and CIS professional agencies".

ELECTIONS AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA: A POLITICAL MODERATOR OR A SOURCE OF DESTABILIZATION?

2004 is the year of Big Elections - both in Russia and the United States with presidential elections in March and November. There has also been the traumatic election in Spain where the result was totally changed by the terrorist bombings in Madrid. South Africa is also going to the polls again a decade after the end of apartheid though the people of Iraq may have to wait until next year before voting on their future. At election time the role of the mass media always comes under intensive scrutiny. Do journalists report in an objective way without political bias or comment? Are they allowed to? How fair are the legal limitations imposed on the activities of journalists in election time by governments around the world? Does the media focus enough on the issues that matter to voters? Or, as one media watchdog in the United States put it, are journalists much more interested in the excitement of the horserace itself?
The media in post-Soviet countries played an important role in helping to establish modern electoral systems. But what has been the record of local journalists in covering these more democratic contests?

*Chair: Riz Khan, Broadcaster, journalist, Riz Khan Productions, USA
*Panelists:
Gleb Pavlovskiy, President, Effective Policy Foundation, Russia
Sheila Gunn, Associate Director, GPC International, freelance political journalist and commentator, UK
Dr. Ariel Cohen, Research fellow, Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security, the Heritage Foundation, USA
Dosym Satpayev, Director, Political Risk Assessment Group, Kazakhstan

*Producer: Keith Bowers, freelance producer, Ewa Ewart, BBC producer, UK
*Chair: Stephen Claypole, Chairman, DMA Media Ltd., UK
*Panelists:
Richard Perle, Resident Fellow at American Enterprise Institute; former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003); former Assistant Secretary of Defense (1981-1987)
Gunter Knabe, Diplomatic Correspondent (Asia/Islam World), Deutsche Welle TV and Radio International, Germany
Dara Hassan Reshid, Head of the Committee for New Iraqi Media Infrastructure Reconstruction, Special Advisor on Media Matters to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime-Minister, Iraq
Eugen Saracini, News director, Radio Television 21, Kosovo

*Producer: The International Institute for Modern Politics, Kazakhstan

*Keynote speaker: Richard Holbrooke, Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Assistant Secretary of State, USA
*Chair: Erlan Karin, Director of the International Institute for Modern Politics, Kazakhstan
*Panelists:
Jean Fournet, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO
Dr. Ariel Cohen, Research fellow, Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security, the Heritage Foundation, USA
Dr. Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group, USA
Irina Zvyagelskaya, Vice-president, Center for Strategic and Political Research, Russia
Marat Tazhin, The First Deputy Head of the President's Office, Kazakhstan

One of the world's most secretive societies, North Korea inspires fear and curiosity. Its nuclear ambitions could make it the next big challenge to world peace. How are the external media, Asian and Western, covering the story? How fair and informed is their reporting about conditions inside the country and what drives the North Korean leadership? And what about the internal media - just a steady stream of government propaganda?

*Producer: Ewa Ewart, BBC Producer, UK
*Chair: John Owen-Davies, Former Reuters Bureau Chief and member of the Korea Group at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK
*Keynote speaker: Richard Perle, Resident Fellow at American Enterprise Institute; former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board (2001-2003); former Assistant Secretary of Defense (1981-1987)
*Panelists:
Vladimir Rerikh, Editor-in-chief, "ASAR" newspaper, Kazakhstan
Ewa Ewart, BBC Producer, UK
Shiraz Paracha, journalist, Pakistan

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2004

How effective are international human rights and freedom of speech organisations in defending the rights of journalists to exercise their profession (safety concerns, insurance policies, lobbying their rights in the governments, etc.)? How can a professional body such as the newly established International News Safety Institute (INSI) work with employers, editors and reporters to reduce the rising rate of conflict and other casualties in the media? What is it like to be on the other side of the story - how are the rights and safety of interviewees and people who help journalists with their stories protected by international journalists' organisations?

*Chair: John Owen, Trustee, Institute of War and Peace Reporting, UK
*Panelists:
Rodney Pinder, Director, the International News Safety Institute
Andrey Bakonin, President, Journalist Investigative Agency "Azhur", Russia
Barry May, Founder, The Media Safety Net, UK
David Harisson, Daily Telegraph, UK
Maria Slonim, Journalist, Russia

REPORTING TERROR
The activities of Al Qaeda and other groups not only cause serious questions for the continued operation of modern societies but also for the media. How should the issues of terrorism and politically motivated violence be reported? Should such groups be the given the "oxygen of publicity" and is the media careful enough in choosing the right language to report terrorist attacks? How much do some governments try to either hide or exaggerate the nature of the terrorist threat from their own peoples and the media? In the wake of the recent bomb attacks in Spain controversy erupted after the government in Madrid was accused of trying to influence the way the violence was portrayed in the media. What lessons can be drawn from this and other incidents about the media's role in reporting terror?

*Chair: David Harrison, Senior correspondent, Sunday Telegraph, UK
*Panelists:
Mohamed A. R. Galadari, Editor-in-Chief, Khaleej Times, UAE
Francisco Pascual de la Parte, Ambassador of Spain to the Republic of Kazakhstan
Zeyno Baran, Director of International Security and Energy Programs, The Nixon Center, USA
Baker Atyani, Bureau Chief, Asia, Alarabiya News Channel, Jordan

THE CASPIAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: ENERGY IN HARNESS
This session will look at economic development and business perspectives in Central Asia and the Caucasus, fuelled by Caspian energy resources. Environmental issues, social implications and the quality of media coverage of all these issues will also be on the agenda.

*Producer: American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan
*Chair: Charles Hodson, anchor of "World Business Today", CNN International (TBC)
*Panelists:
Zeyno Baran, Director of International Security and Energy Programs, The Nixon Center, USA
Dr. Ariel Cohen, Research fellow, Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security, the Heritage Foundation, USA
Kairat Abuseitov, First vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan
Khalaf Khalafov, Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan

THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY - FUN IN EURASIA?
85% of TV viewers in the CIS watch entertainment news and 'soaps'. Much of the content is imported: 'Who wants to be a Millionaire?' …in how many countries? But what is the outlook for local production, regional stardom and commercial profits?

*Producer: Associated Press Television News, UK
*Chair: Riz Khan, Broadcaster, journalist, Riz Khan Productions, USA
*Panelists:
Kairat Kulbayev, Vice-President, Shahar Media Group, Hit TV entertainment channel, Kazakhstan
Nigel Parsons, Director, Sales, APTN, UK
Ioana Nitobe, Producer and Presenter, International Club weekly television program, Romania De Maine Television,Romania
Evgeniy Zhumanov, TV host, "Who want to be a Millionaire?", Kazakhstan