On November 27, the moderators and participants resumed the XVIII Quality Journalism: Myth or Reality? German-Russian Media Forum which took place in Saratov University.
The final discussion was devoted to the risks and side effects of digitalisation and how digital divide splits the society. This topic was addressed by Head of the Communications Department of the German Consumer Protection Society Franka Kühn as she was talking about fake news. On the same day, a meeting of the editorial staff took place and work in groups continued.
Summing up the results of the productive five-day media forum, the participants sincerely shared their views on the first part of the conference, where academic reports were presented, and on the practical part, where guests from different Russian and German cities prepared their projects. They highlighted the team spirit of the forum and fruitful joint work and admitted that they would like to stay a little longer to get to know the city in a more detailed way.
A graduate of the Department of Romance and Germanic Languages and Translation Studies, SSU, Associate Professor of the Department of Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication, SSTU, Oksana Matasova expressed her delight after the event. ‘The university greeted us very warmly. I liked the excursions to the Saratov 24 TV editorial office and to the editorial office of the HUMAN magazine. For the first time I saw the whole production process from the inside. During the conference, in addition to the reports, master classes, and team work, we plunged into philosophical topics, talked about the definition of journalism and media as well as how long print media would exist. I cannot but note that the cuisine was very good: the dishes were always different. Every day different salads, soups, and seconds. Everything was delicious.’
A journalist from Budapest, Cornelia Kish, often attends various international conferences, she joined the German-Russian Media Forum for the second time. She really liked the city, which she remembered for its beautiful architecture. At the conference, Cornelia Kish was interested in learning about the local media as well as participating in topical discussions. ‘I realised that the university has a lot to do with the local media but still this did not stop us from conducting objective, critical discussions. This is very important,’ the journalist summed up.
Natalya Gubernatorova, a photographer for the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, stressed that the experience of participating in the media forum was very useful in terms of professional development. ‘Everything was done very well, we did the necessary thing – we shared our experience. We do not communicate much now because of the pandemic but here we have a very valuable opportunity. At the forum it became clear that we have practically identical problems with our foreign colleagues, and they need to be solved together. I really liked the idea brought up more than once – to make contacts precisely with the help of public diplomacy. I think such forums are important for improving relations between countries.’ She added that the media forum at Saratov University was organised at a high level. ‘We were only engaged in discussions and did not even think about organisational issues, for this many thanks to the university, it was as comfortable as possible.’
During the media forum, Russian and German colleagues discussed trust in the media, the viability of high-quality journalism, the work of the media during the coronavirus pandemic, in the era of fake news, interaction with information sources, and many other current issues. Excursions around the city and the university campus, visits to the editorial offices of the Saratov media completed the picture of the forum.
The guests left Saratov with pleasant impressions, they were especially pleased this year with the possibility of full-time participation in the international event.
