FOLLOW UP EVENTS
World Press Freedom Day - May 3, 2006 - Links

Journalism Symposium in Cyprus Expands Minds

March 18-19 , 2006

Forty leading journalists from both communities in Cyprus as well from Greece and Turkey attended a symposium on March 18-19 at the J.W. Fulbright Center in the UN-patrolled buffer zone to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the region, democratic reform in the Middle East, the war on terrorism, as well as the role of the media in reporting conflict.

Participants hailed from Islamic, communist, right-wing, government and opposition newspapers. Speakers included Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes, Brookings Institute; Dr. Ian Lesser, Wilson Institute; Prof. Ahmet Evin, Istanbul Policy Center/Sabanci University; Mr. Tony Borden, Executive Director of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting; Ms. Nidzara Ahmetasevic, Balkans Investigative Reporting Network; and Israeli historian and Ha'aretz columnist, Mr. Tom Segev. Participants debated issues of mutual concern, including the Cyprus issue, objectivity and subjectivity in reporting conflict, democratization, and terrorism.

Discussions spilled over in to the breaks, lunches and a dinner hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Ronald Schlicher. High-level reporters gradually made mutually beneficial connections. Cypriot participants described the symposium as "mind expanding." Most participants asked the Embassy to organize follow-up programs. Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot TV and print media covered the event.