More than two years have passed since the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. These events not only challenged the post-Cold War European security order, but also brought the fundamental role of media into sharp focus. Manipulation of information and biased reporting has been a key feature. To what extent has the media landscape changed since Maidan? What kind of challenges are associated with Russian disinformation and does it still play a key role in influencing public opinion? And how can the West and civil societies contribute to overcoming these formidable tasks?
Among the confirmed speakers are:
• Roman Shutov, Program Director at Detector Media and Telekritika, Kiev, Ukraine (http://www.telekritika.ua/)
• Natalia Shuga, Head of the NGO Kharkiv Crisis Infocenter, Kharkov, Ukraine (http://civilforum.com.ua/)
• Ivan Syniepalov, Head of Gromadske TV of Azov, Mariupol, Ukraine (http://priazov.tv/)
The debate will be moderated by Ondřej Soukup, journalist and former Moscow correspondent for the Czech daily Hospodářské Noviny
The event will be held in English and is organized by the Prague Security Studies Institute in cooperation with the Vaclav Havel Library and Ministerstvo zahraničních věcí České republiky (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic).
Twitter feed: @pssi_prague
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BIO OF SPEAKERS
Natalia Kurdiukova is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, director and co-founder of the independent socio-political media project Nakipelo, which now includes Kharkov Crisis InfoCenter, Youtube-channel Nakipelo, website nakipelo.ua and newspaper “Forum”. It was founded in March 2014 after the dramatic events on the Maidan and is independent of political parties, and business organizations. It is the only social project of this kind in Kharkov. Previously, Mrs. Kurdiukova was also a director of documentaries about the history of Kharkiv in the early 20th century and during the World War II.
Roman Shutov produces reviews and analysis of Russian propaganda in Ukraine since 2011. He is an author of more than 30 scientific and analytical articles, along with research report “Civic Media in Ukraine” (CCC, 2008), and the first complex research of Russian propaganda in Ukraine (Telekritika, 2015). In 2015, he participated in the creation of Conception of Information Security of Ukraine. His field of expertise include: psychological influence (propaganda), soft power, national information security, and media reform.
Ivan Syniepalov was born in Pervomaysk, Luhansk region and graduated in journalism from the State university in Mariupol. In 2012-2013, Mr. Syniepalov was a participant of Journalism schools “Founding fathers of EU”, “How to write about energy reform” and “Summer sporting journalism school”. He was also a trainee at statewide channel ICTV, worked at Mariupol television and served as a spokesman for Petro Poroshenko election headquarters in Mariupol. After graduating Mr. Syniepalov co-founded and is now in charge of Public TV of Azov – the first independent TV-channel in Mariupol.
By Stan Ivasiuk’s youtube
