The Media2020 Dialogue Series has been an attempt over the past several years to connect media professionals in Europe and the Asia-Pacific and to initiative mutual partnership between media stakeholders in the East and West in the new digital world in a more efficient and effective manner.
Media2020 has always been about synergy – between broadcasters and between regions – and we hope the 2019 dialogue in Bucharest, Romania, will continue this excellent tradition.
While all Media2020 Dialogues have been important and exciting, this one will surely be even more productive, being the penultimate edition, before we reach our first staging target in 2020.
This is the Fifth in the Media2020 series and we are very fortunate in having Radio Romania as our hosts again, having experienced their generous and professional hosting of two conferences, including the first Media2020 Dialogue in 2015. After the success of the 2017 Dialogue in the beautiful historic city of Sinaia, this year we are back in the capital city Bucharest, alongside the headquarters of Radio Romania, with access to their facilities and expertise, for which we at the ABU express great thanks.
I look forward to this year’s dialogue with excitement, given the topics already slated for discussion, from big picture, blue-sky thinking to very detailed resource and knowledge sharing by experts in both our regions.
Media2020 offers topics across the whole range of concerns for those of us working in and with public broadcasting, including policy, technology, content, professional development and planning. Importantly, Media2020 has always tried to move beyond theoretical discussions of issues – important though these are – into examining real-life challenges and practical solutions.
Media2020 has never shied away from asking hard questions or hearing surprising answers. It is said we learn from our mistakes, so we share those too, knowing it will be in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.
On behalf of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, I welcome you to Bucharest and to a fascinating conference.
Dear friends,
What Unites Us: Crossing Borders in the Digital World is the theme of this year’s 5th Media 2020 Conference, which will be organized by Radio Romania, in cooperation with ABU, from October 3rd to October 4th, 2019, in Bucharest.
For us it is a privilege to host for the third time in Romania this event, which, since its inauguration in 2015, has effectively managed to open a new communication horizon between Asia-Pacific and Europe in the field of broadcasting. An edition after another, we have learned to look together at the future: focusing on what unites us and on our common goals is, I am convinced, one of the most important gains of this conference so far.
In a global context where we all must face the main problems of the day, starting from political and economic issues to the new digital age we need to adapt to, sharing our experiences and good practices is a must if we want to overcome such challenges. Media 2020 has become a beautiful celebration of dialogue and togetherness, a thrilling mosaic of unity in diversity. Leading broadcasting experts from the two continents will meet in Bucharest to discuss about some of the hottest topics at the core of the current media global debate.
At this edition of Media 2020 Conference, we invite you to reflect to the following question: how can public media cross the borders that hold us back, while sustaining those that make us safe? At the crossroads between East and West, this conference is ready to share what we have learned from each other, and what experiences we can share into the future. The future of public media in the digital world, how to achieve protection of copyright and IP today, how to combat fake news, how to deal with the transition into the online space, what is 5G, how to promote and preserve culture and diversity between East and West and how to enhance cross-cultural cooperation – these will be some of the most challenging topics approached during the conference.
Thank you and we are looking forward to welcome you in Bucharest in October!
WHAT UNITES US:
CROSSING BORDERS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
5th Annual Media2020 Asia-Pacific – Europe Media Dialogue
3rd – 4th October 2019, Bucharest, Romania
The conference will look at digital media world from several perspectives – geographic, economic, technical, cultural and program content – to discover what unites in the new digital age. While some borders will always exist, how can public media cross the borders that hold us back while sustaining those that make us safe?
On the eve of its target year, Media2020 will bring together experts and practitioners from East and West to examine the digital media world as is has evolved to today and how public service media are adapting for the future.
East, west or in-between, what have we learned from each other, what can we share into the future?
Just as the traders of old on the Silk Road carried merchandise and ideas backwards and forwards between Asia and Europe, benefitting both, so 21st Century information traders can build the new communications age, showcasing the best they have and warning of the traps and pitfalls on the route. In the global information environment, changes in broadcasting and new media provision are accelerating. New services and technologies are emerging to access and respond to audience needs. Forward-looking broadcasters are finding new ways they can interact with viewers, listeners and readers who can increasingly decide how, when and where they will be available, informed and entertained. The abilities of content producers, providers and distributors to deal with these changes vary enormously, from large multinational media organisations with staffs of thousands and multi-billion dollar budgets to small national broadcasters with far fewer resources. But in the digital age they can all play a role in how our world copes with advances in the new information age. One of the major roles of the broadcasting unions has traditionally been to intermediate between large, medium and small broadcasters, to help all members in their development. So do they still have a role in the new information age and, if so, what is it? This conference will be a chance to dig deeply into some of the major issues challenging broadcasting and communications in the 21st Century. Some are technical, some commercial, some cultural or political, some aesthetic and some that go to the very heart of what it is to be human in today’s societies. All these challenges have real dangers and practical paths forward. The conference organisers will bring together experts from across our regions and around the world to help us share knowledge and solutions in an age when the old certainties are crumbling and disruption is the new watchword – for both hazards and opportunities. And to make sure diverse voices are heard and everyone can contribute, the panellists will keep their remarks brief and stimulating, to allow time for discussion among delegates.
Previous editions of Media 2020 Conference:
1st Media 2020 Conference: June 30th – July 1st, 2015, Bucharest
2nd Media 2020 Conference: April 27th, 2016, Beijing
3rd Media 2020 Conference: September 11th, 2017, Sinaia, Romania
4th Media 2020 Conference: July 12th, 2018, Astana
