II.Media Transformation in the Digital Age: New Development Trends
The forum featured the official opening ceremony, plenary session and 8 round tables. It was attended by delegates from more than 60 countries and international organizations, including former presidents, Nobel Prize winners, acclaimed scholars and politicians, and media leaders. The co-chairs of the forum are President of theRepublicofAzerbaijan Ilham Aliyevand President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Participation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in the official opening ceremony and his substantial speech multiplied the socio-political, scientific and philosophical significance of the event. The 4th Baku International Humanitarian Forum went beyond the humanitarian bounds to grow into an important platform for discussing the entire spectrum of the issues humanity is concerned of. The forum highlighted a wide range of humanitarian challenges and ways of solving them. All the issues discussed were reflected in the Declaration of the international Forum.
The information support for the event was provided by AzerTAc on the Azerbaijani part and TASS on the Russian one.
“Media Transformation in the Digital Age: New Development Trends” round table was organized by the Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency (AzerTAc).
It was attended by heads and senior managers of Russian, Austrian, Malaysian, Italian, Vietnamese, Croatian, Serbian,Belarusand Kazakh news agencies as well as international media experts, statesmen and politicians. He roundtable featured three panels. The first panel discussed the problems of the 21st century journalism in the context of intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue. The second panel discussed new models of development of
journalism in information societies, and the third one looked into the place and role of the media in covering the humanitarian problems in the age of globalization.
“The international humanitarian forum has again brought us together. We have a good opportunity to discuss socio-political developments on a global scale, new trends and challenges, define our priorities, and exchange views and experience,” said AzerTAc Director General Aslan Aslanov, as he made opening remarks at the first panel of the round table entitled “The problems of the 21st century journalism in the context of intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue”.
Moderator Mikhail Gusman, Secretary General of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and First Deputy Director General of TASS, provided an insight into the agenda of the round table.
Speakers at the first panel included Peter Kropsch, former President of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and CEO of Austrian Press Agency (APA), Yong Soo Heong, General Manager of the Malaysian National News Agency BERNAMA, Stjepan Mesic, former President of Croatia, Gianni Di Giovanni, CEO of Italian AGI Agency, Atila Sertel, President of the Turkish Journalists Federation, Elmira Akhundova, Member of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, Terry McCarthy, President & CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, winner of Emmy, former head of LA’s Bureau of Time magazine, and Lamiye Vazirova, Senior Teacher at the Department of New Media and Communication Technologies at Baku Slavic University.
Called “The social media boom: new models of development of journalism in information societies”, the second panel meeting was moderated by Yong Soo Heong, General Manager of the Malaysian National News Agency BERNAMA.
In his speech, AzerTAc Director General Aslan Aslanov said: “Beginning from the early 21st century, humanity stepped into the era of transformation, new stage of development of completely different relations, social relationships, which are based on reciprocal ties between various sectors of the society in virtually each state. Internet, which has embedded itself into everyday life, has turned every member of society into both a consumer and data medium. It revolutionized the media landscape in a full sense of the word.”
“This social event in the countries presented at today`s forum has both distinctive features and quite a few common ones. It is obvious that not all our countries are at the same level of development, and it affects the media sector too. However, the trend of creating information beyond conventional media structures of the society and its integration into the process of its consumption is similar to a greater or lesser degree.”
“This social event in the countries presented at today`s forum has both distinctive features and quite a few common ones. It is obvious that not all our countries are at the same level of development, and it affects the media sector too. However, the trend of creating information beyond conventional media structures of the society and its integration into the process of its consumption is similar to a greater or lesser degree.
How will the conflict between certified journalists and other members of society including Internet in the traditional media sector end in the light of the growing influence of social journalism on our society? Who will gain an upper hand? Debates on this do not die off. It is impossible to go without humor here: there were those who have recently called this conflict even a “cold war.” Is the situation really on the brink of war and conflict between the two poles is so much antagonistic? I think not. Of course, there are possibly elements of jealousy, However, here we can see more interaction than ineffective competition. Perhaps, you agree that traditional media is more concerned about this issue. They believe that expanding audience of social networks and boom of social media is a source of threat to TV ratings and sale of printed goods. At the same time, they do not imagine themselves, their professional activity without iPads, smartphones and social networks.”
Mr. Aslanov said: “We are advancing on the way of posting a report or a news item on the website of the agencies, followed by its spread in social networks. AzerTAc has its webpage in the social networks. In this context, can we compete with ourselves? The important thing for us is to deliver accurate and prompt information to the society about developments and to minimize unverified information.
Social media and new technologies cannot be virtually separated from the production of multimedia products. Infographics, video and audio materials, statistics tables, geoeconomic maps are important analytical integral parts of multimedia report. We should never forget that unlike information from newspapers and magazines multimedia report has its beginning but does not have an end in the internet base.”
“In other words, the online report does not end with posting a news item on the website since a journalist who works on the issue continues to monitor the events for some time. After presenting information he can complete it in an update format. It encourages the audience to return to this material, brush it up and follow details of the event.”
“Social networks have a serious impact on modern journalism all over the world. They continue to remain not only a source of exclusive information received from newsmakers and witnesses of events but also have a great leverage as a means of forming their audiences. Another aspect of the issue is that each agency does not only consist of staff but also separate journalists. Each of these journalists and reporters must of course observe the common conception of their agency and policy of their employer. In addition, each of them has their individual style. In many cases, an author can be recognized even without signature in his article. For the most part, many staffers have their personal blogs, special sections. For the most part, many employees have their personal blogs, special columns within separate categories on the agencies` websites.
Shaping an individual brand is of great importance for such modern journalists, not only as just the one who is informed about his field but also as a competent specialist. That is why, they need to explore the ways of attracting audience to their account not also as employees of a news agency but also as authors of individual online blogs,” he said.
“There are many such methods. For example, tweeting sensations, use of h-tags, sharing information they consider interesting with reference to the source etc. It is fair to say that majority of employees of media organizations (I do not mean freelancers) already regard online blogging a needless burden but do not realize why they have to do the same sort of work twice. Therefore, they often settle for posting and commenting links on the Facebook. These people often fairly wonder why they need to create individual blogs because they want to be on the scene, take photographs and directly communicate with newsmakers without just compiling and posting tweets of newsmakers in networks. However, future of digital journalism for these authors of internet publications is associated with this format of professional live blogging,” Mr. Aslanov said.
Other speakers at the panel included Nguyen Duc Loi, Director General of the Vietnamese News Agency (VNA), Branka Gabriela Valentic, Director General of the Croatian News Agency (HINA), Branka Slobodan Dukic, Director General of the Serbian News Agency Tanjug, Jamal Nasser Al Suwaider, Executive Director of the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Dmitry Zhuk, Director General of the Belarus Telegraph Agency (BelTA), Takeharu Tsutsumi, President of The Japan Times newspaper, Alexander Peske, Secretary General of the Russia-Switzerland Cooperation Council, and Aynur Bashirli, head of the Department of New Media and Communication Technologies at Baku Slavic University.
The third panel meeting was titled “The place and role of the media in covering the humanitarian problems in the age of globalization”. It was moderated by Vugar Seyidov, AzerTAc`s Special Correspondent in Germany. This panel saw speeches by Zhanna Golubitskaya, editor at Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper, Manuela Sessa, President of the Azerbaijani-Italian Youth Association, Alex Vatanka, Senior fellow at Washington-based Middle East Institute, Eirini Nikolopoulou, former President of the European Network of Greek Women Journalists, Georgina Bernath, Chief of the Press Service of Hungarian Jobbik Party, Shamil Valiyev, dean of Journalism Department at Baku State University, Rasim Mahmudov, head of Problems of Internet Studies Division at the Azerbaijani Institute of Information Technologies, Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy at the Heritage Foundation, Peter Marko Tase, International Relations Assistant at Marquette University, Yael Warshel, Assistant Professor at International Institute of the University of California, and Mustafa Seifullah Guluzada Alyar, Director of Iranian Daniz newspaper.
The speakers hailed the importance of the Baku International Humanitarian Forum. They also highlighted Azerbaijan`s successful organization of international events on humanitarian issues, and thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the excellent organization of the Forum.
AzerTAc Director General Aslan Aslanov made closing remarks at the round table, which culminated with the discussion and adoption of the final Declaration of the forum.
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- welcoming the creation of the Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism;
- taking into account the growing significance of international humanitarian cooperation and effective partnership in this sphere in ensuring harmonious, sustainable development and the elimination and prevention of political and military conflicts proliferating throughout the world;
- considering as part of a broad exchange of opinions, such problems as:
- drawing attention to the fact that stimulating the economy by constantly increasing demand contradicts the principles of sustainable development and is already coming up against serious resource, ethical and humanitarian restrictions and leading to irreversible global ecological consequences;
- seeking to make our contribution to ensuring long-term sustainable development, founded on contemporary knowledge, human potential and the principles of ecological civilization;
- recognizing that in conditions of globalization our common future can be shaped through the effective, scientifically based mobilization, in accordance with humanitarian ethical principles, of the whole intellectual, cultural, social human potential and natural diversity existing on our planet;
- taking into account that effective responses to the challenges of the 21st century require the broad integration of contemporary scientific and traditional knowledge with information technology and for them to be made universally accessible on the global and national level;
- underlining the special role of civil society and the mass media in raising the information level in society and expanding participation in the planning and achievement of objectives in the sphere of humanitarian development;
- calling upon political, cultural and academic elites, international organizations and representatives of civil society and the mass media to strengthen further humanitarian cooperation in order to ensure the sustainability of development;
- realizing that under conditions of limited resources, their best use on the principles of sustainable development and humanitarian ethics should be built on achievements already made;
- realizing that under conditions of limited resources, their best use on the principles of sustainable development and humanitarian ethics should be built on achievements already made;
- considering as part of a broad exchange of opinions, such problems as:
- Comparative research into multiculturalism: from theory to humanitarian practice
- Media transformation in the digital age: new development trends
- The role of interdisciplinary integration in innovative development
- Sustainable development and ecological civilization
- Challenges of globalization: between tradition and transformation
- Molecular biology and biotechnology in the 21st century: theory, practice, prospects
- Converging technologies and outlines of the future: landmark challenges of the 21st century
- Humanism as a basic value in the postmodern era
- we note that the expansion and further development of international humanitarian cooperation is the key factor in an effective response to contemporary challenges and threats and enables the accessibility and expanded application of contemporary management and production technologies, ensuring the well-being of present and future generations;
- we recognize that the Baku Humanitarian Forum, traditionally held on the initiative of the Republic of Azerbaijan, constitutes an important contribution to the development of multiculturalism, based on humanitarian practice as the basic value of the post-modern era;
- we bear witness that a range of countries, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, have achieved significant progress in recent years in the planning and management of sustainable development which has been reflected in the figures and reports of international organizations;
- we pay special attention to the need for further development of international cooperation to transform society from a society of consumption into a humanitarian society of consumption on the basis of sensible sufficiency, as well as to achieve a way of life that meets the demands of ecological civilization;
- we recognize the importance of the application of nano- and bio-technologies, based on the latest scientific achievements, and the convergence of contemporary and traditional technologies to ensure food and medicinal security, raise the quality of life and achieve the human potential for longevity;
- we acknowledge that the development of human potential through the integration of the latest knowledge and skills, including interdisciplinary, in a programme of continuing education, as well as the expansion of cooperation in this sphere, are the key humanitarian components of sustainable development;
- we note the ever growing role of the mass media and civil society in achieving the goals of humanitarian development through increased awareness and expanded participation in the humanization of development;
- we call on the various international and national structures specializing in humanitarian development systematically to hold forums, conferences and round tables aimed at creating an atmosphere of tolerance, mutual respect and resolving contemporary global and local challenges;
- we note the need for such forums to be held annually and express our profound gratitude to the President and government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and all the organizers of the Baku International Humanitarian Forum for holding this major, productive event;
- we consider it necessary to pass this declaration and to make use of it to strengthen cooperation in humanitarian development.
Summary of speeches by participants of the plenary session
IV Baku International Humanitarian Forum proceeded with plenary session after official opening ceremony on October 2.
Azad RAHIMOV, Minister of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan was chairing the first part of the session which was attended by former presidents. He spoke about the measures taken towards the development of humanitarian field in the country during the years of independence. The Minister also mentioned that multicultural dialogue platform had already been established in Azerbaijan.
Arnold RÜÜTEL, former President of Estonia touched upon existing ecological problems in the world, emphasized the concern caused by the reduction of flora and fauna species. He also said that in recent years the number of poor countries in the world was increasing and that led to serious problems such as social inequality. Arnold Rüütel talked about actions implemented for achieving ecological balance and contributions made to global cultural diversity.
Stjepan MESIC, former President of Croatia spoke about the issue of restoring faith among nations. He added that terrorism actions occurring in the international community were unacceptable and restoration of relations based on faith became necessity. Stjepan Mesic condemned cases of violence and supported peaceful solutions of controversial issues.
Valdis ZATLERS, former President of Latvia drew attention to the achievement of goals defined in the previous Forum. As to him the ground of tension in the world is not a religion but other reasons and he added that wars were threat for peace. From this aspect, the guest emphasized the importance of peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabagh conflict.
Vytautas LANDSBERGIS, former President of Lithuania highlighted the peace –as a basic idea of Baku Humanitarian Forum and said that although Azerbaijan faced fact of invasion, it still demonstrated ideas of establishing stable state.
Enrico LETTA, former President of the Council of Ministers of Italy talked about development of relations between countries and importance of Forum. Mentioning the relationships of EU with South Caucasian region Enrico Letto expressed his opinion that economic and social cooperation with Azerbaijan should be expanded. He expressed his certainty about holding the first European Games in high level in our country and said: “We are very delighted that Azerbaijan takes parts in European partnership.”
Sheikha Fariha Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al SABAH, President of the Kuwait Association for the Ideal Family noted that our country was in the center of attention of the world experiencing crisis and the formula of gaining accomplishments in such a world was being observed in Azerbaijan.
Hadil Fontes da Rocha VIANNA, Vice Minister for Cooperation, Culture and Trade Promotion, Ministry of External Relations of Brazil, expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the Forum. Vice Minister spoke about the work carried out in the field of cultural diversity and accentuated the essence of cultural pluralism for each country.
Gabriela CUEVAS, Senator, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate, touching upon the importance of debated issues stated that world union should strive for solution of existing conflicts through negotiations; norms and principles of international law should be preserved. He particularly noted the necessity of unifying efforts against terrorism.
H.E. Mr. Mohamed Sameh AMR, Chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO, expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the high-level organization of Forum. He mentioned that UNESCO had pursued ideas of humanism since its establishment and appreciated maintenance of world cultural diversity as a profound criterion. He emphasized that aims of Baku Forum overlapped with those of UNESCO.
Akif ALIZADE, Academician and President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences was chairing the 2nd part of the session and said that it was a great platform in terms of bringing well-known scientists, politicians from all parts of the world together.
Erwin NEHER, Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology and Medicine noted that by accomplishing profound achievements in the fields of chemistry, biotechnology, and physiology in recent years great results were obtained towards the elimination of regenerative diseases. He emphasized that serious researches were conducted during last decade and China, USA, and Japan held enormous projects associated with the investigation of human brain.
Rudolph Arthur MARCUS, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry drew attention to the fact that because of inequality in welfare of people in the world our modern community suffered from different adversities. He added that for eliminating this problem, great projects in the field of science, education, and medicine should be carried out in relatively less developed countries.
Kary Banks MULLİS, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry said that precluding diseases, problems in the modern world was critical issue for scientists. He also mentioned that remaining of environmental problems, wars, hatred among people, violence and other crimes led world to the catastrophe gradually.
Rudolf Martin ZİNKERNAGEL, Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine stated that human physiology should be learned deeply for perceiving problems occurring in the world. From this viewpoint, qualified primary education, educating young and well-educated teachers is intensely essential. It is overall necessary for the protection of human life.
Robert Betts LAUGHLIN, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics said that in our modern world computer technology prevailed over physical human features. He stressed that it was already time to contemplate about hazards of electronic revolution.
Kurt WÜTHRICH, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry expressed his proud to speak at the beautiful architectural monument Heyder Aliyev Center. He said that as a result of implementation of different scientific inventions of various centuries important achievements were obtained in the field of economy, medicine, technology, etc.
Finn KYDLAND, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics expressed his delight for being in Baku for the fourth time and spoke about the steps taken by the states to overcome crisis and its impacts. As to him world economic crisis made states encounter with the obligation of defining precise predictions related to economic development.
David Jonathan GROSS, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics stated that the problems that threaten humanity can only be resolved by joint efforts of the world community. Disputes should not be settled by force. History shows that all conflicts result in terrible human lost. The scientist mentioned that cases of chauvinism and violence have often been observed in recent years which cause big difficulties. We have to join our efforts to deal with such negative cases.
Theodor Wolfgang HÄNSCH, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics stressed that Azerbaijan attached great importance to humanitarian values. “I am glad that today we witness the transfer of “black gold” to human capital” – he said. He also mentioned about rapid development in the field of technology and appreciated the trends of scientific circles to direct their resources to this field.
George Fitzgerald SMOOT, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics said that we had to protect our planet both for ourselves and for future generations and should be aware of the impacts we had on environment. Sustainable development pursued by the governments in economy should be provided in the field of environmental protection.
Mrs. Ada YONATH, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry expressed her gratitude for invitation to the Forum and hospitality she witnessed in our country. In her speech, she talked about human longevity and mentioned about successes gained against various diseases due to development of medicine. She also stressed that serious researches were being conducted towards the gradual change of genetic code.
Peter Arthur DIAMOND, Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Sciences talked about employment. He stated that job made person feel internal satisfaction along with causing income. He stressed the importance of diversification of the employments policies by the governments to defend economy against crises. P.Diamond evaluated the transfer of manpower from one field to another and the large number of competent people with leadership skills in each sector as an important factor in the solution of employment problem.
Thomas Christian SUDHOF, Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine appreciated contribution of multiculturalism to the development of science and stated that the role of science is to spread and promote human values. He stressed the importance of the roles of scohlars in pragmatic decision-making and reasoning process, espaecially trust of policy makers in scientific circles.
Arieh WARSHEL, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry talked about positive impact of scientific achievement on society. The scientist pointed out that human life would be better due to significant scientific achievements.
Akif Alizade mentioned the establishment of the Institute of Biophysics attached to the ANAS and thanked George Fitzgerald Smoot, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics for his cooperation with our country in this field.
At the end of the plenary session, Akif Alizade appreciated the importance of the participation of the renowned scientists and Nobel Prize Winners in the Forum and their speeches in terms of significant contribution to Azerbaijan and world science.
In the third part of the session, the reports of the chairpersons of the “round tables” to be held in the VI Baku International Humanitarian Forum.
Chairperson Mikayil JABBAROV, Ministry of Education welcomed the guests and spoke about the importance of the Forum held in Baku for the fourth time. The Minister said that statements made both in the official part and plenary meeting of the Forum would constitute key topics of the “round tables” to be held on October 3. Speaking about important measures taken in the fields of science and education in our country in recent years Minister Mikayil Jabbarov stressed that substantial reforms had been carried out in this direction in Azerbaijan and state strategy on the development of education had been adopted in the previous year.
Antonio VILLARAIGOSA, Former Speaker of the California State Assembly, former Mayor of Los Angeles spoke about issues to be discussed in the round table “Comparative Research into Multiculturalism: from Theory to Humanitarian Practice” chaired by him. He emphasized that multiculturalism affected a great number of life processes and crisis appeared in this field caused very complicated problems. A. Villaraigosa stated that humanitarian issues, particularly those relating to multiculturalism were current issues of our time. Azerbaijan is a multinational, multicultural country. The positive atmosphere here is sought in many parts of world.
Mikhail GUSMAN, First Deputy Director General of ITAR- TASS Russia News Agency, chairperson of the round table “Media Transformation in the Digital Age: New Development Trends” in his speech stated that Azerbaijan was his native country and he felt very happy of being there: “I have attended the first Forum as well. The Forum has obviously improved and enriched thenceforth. I am sure that Baku International Humanitarian Forum will exceed Davos Economic Forum in future for its significance”. M. Gusman pointed out the issues to be discussed in the round table, including problems of the modern media, the role of mass media in the digital era, and some other current issues.
Eden MAMUT, Secretary General of the Black Sea Universities Network in Romania will chair the round table “The Role of Interdisciplinary Integration in Innovative Development”. He stressed the importance of the measures taken towards the development of modern science and expanding the educational opportunities all over the world. He mentioned that 21 reports of the specialists from various countries would be heard in the round table and a number of issues on the topic would be highlighted.
John LAWRENCE, Adjunct Professor of Columbia University informed about the issues to be discussed in the round table “Sustainable Development and Ecological Civilization” chaired by him. Speaking about the importance of the ecological civilization American scholar pointed out that human development index was very important in the modern world: “This index is in fact regarded very simple. Some countries, including Azerbaijan has changed its standards on the basis of this.
Hikmet KOÇAK, Rector of Ataturk University, Turkey, Professor stated that the round table “Challenges of Globalization: between Tradition and Transformation” to be chaired by him would deal with rather philosophical debates. He mentioned that the model of human being and society appeared in the process of globalization and every individual should contribute to the development of society.
Karol SIKORA, Chief Medical Officer of the Cancer Partners UK pointed out that the round table “Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in the 21st Century: Theory, Practice, Prospects” would cover the recent achievements, future and problems of the medical science. He said that revolutionary breakthrough was being observed in technology. “If we can study the direction of movement of the molecules causing cancer, we will be able to diagnose at the initial stage”- he stated.
Ivan VIDENOVICH Program Management Officer, Department of Technical Cooperation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), chairperson of the round table “Converging Technologies and Outlines of the Future: Landmark Challenges of the 21st Century” stated that development of educational sector was closely connected with that of communication and high information technologies. Approximately 60 representatives from 19 countries, including three Nobel Prize Winners would participate in our round table. “Azerbaijan is the country interested in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Azerbaijani scientists will touch upon this issue in their speeches”.
Walter SCHWIMMER, Former Secretary General of the Council of Europe emphasized that the round table “Humanism as a Basic Value in the Postmodern Era” chaired by him would be devoted to a very important and urgent topic. He stated that the round table would consider the increasing need for the shift of values in the postmodern era. “Azerbaijan also suffers from the long-standing conflict. Sustainable peace in the Caucasus is of the greatest importance for the region”.
At the end of the session, Minister M. Jabbarov expressed his gratitude to the participants and wished them good luck.
