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UK
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AEJ in Europe |
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Annual congress |
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Across Europe, the AEJ brings together individual
journalists through their membership of the national sections. It was set up in
1961 in the six countries of what was then the EEC by 70 founding members who
believed in the potential of journalism to promote European harmony. Each year one of the national sections hosts the AEJ's annual congress, providing an opportunity to meet journalists from around the continent. One day is focused on an issue of current interest and the general assembly debates resolutions on cases where journalistic freedoms are in jeopardy. The
new International Board was elected at the Ordu Congress: President : Eileen Dunne, Ireland Secretary General : Peter Kramer, Belgium Deputy
Secretary General : Christos Trikoukis, Greece Treasurer : Luigi Cobisi, Italy Media Freedom Representative : William Horsley, UK Vice Presidents : Javier F Arribas, Spain L Dogan Tilic, Turkey Saia Tsaousidou, Greece Honorary Presidents : Athanase Papandropoulos,
Greece Diego Carcedo, Spain Honorary Vice President : Carmelo Occhino,
Italy Honorary
Secretaries General : Miguel Angel Aguilar, Spain Juraj Alner, Slovakia ____________________________________ Maastricht Congress, 19-21 November
2009 The Dutch Section hosted the 2009 congress in Maastricht. We are all most grateful to Fred Sanders, Gerrit van der Kooy, Harrie Jeurissen and the Dutch Section for making the occasion so lively and enjoyable. The guest speaker on 20 November was Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner. Linz Congress, 21-22 November 2008 The Austrian Section hosted the 2008 congress in Linz, Cultural Capital of Europe 2009. We are indebted to Otmar Lahodynsky for the flawless organisation that made the event such a resounding success See AEJ Congress and General Assembly See Media Freedom Survey for the papers Dublin Congress, 9-10 November 2007 The Irish Section hosted a
truly memorable congress in Dublin in 2007. See www.aej.ie
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Bucharest, 10-12 November 2011 The
Romanian Section hosted last year's annual congress in Bucharest on 10-12 November. We greatly appreciate their
hospitality, and congratulate the section on creating a memorable event that
drew an audience of more than 60 journalists from 17 countries. Take a
look at the Photo Gallery
for some excellent pictures of the congress taken by Vira Pidhayna of the
Ukraine Section. More are displayed on the Ukraine Section’s website.
William Horsley (chair), Dogan Tilic and Andrei Aliaksandrau,
“Media Freedom in the EU-connected Countries” on the afternoon of
12 November. Photograph: Vira Pidhayna The theme
of the congress was “Freedom and Responsibility in the Mass
Media”. The programme covered
institutional, ethical and media freedom issues in Romania and neighbouring
countries. Teodor Baconschi, Romania’s Foreign Minister, took part in
the debate on institutional issues. Disparities
between practices in many countries and the freedom of expression that they
have all guaranteed through adherence to the Council of Europe were
highlighted. For full coverage, see William Horsley’s report
and the international AEJ
website. A
sobering account of these issues, combined with a rousing call to action, was
published by AEJ UK member Jonathan Fryer in the Huffington
Post. Jonathan also cast a wry eye over the congress,
the Foreign
Minister’s contribution to the debate and the trip to
Renault’s Dacia
car factory in his blog. The AEJ
membership passed a resolution
calling on Turkey to stop using
its repressive laws to silence journalists, and for concerted pressure to be brought on
the government by the authorities in other European countries. Please sign the petition
and see Why? What is happening
in Turkey? by AEJ Vice-President L Dogan Tilic Country
reports were delivered on Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine. Ordu Congress, 8-9 October 2010 The generosity
and commitment of the Turkish section and in particular its President, Dogan
Tilıç, in hosting this congress on Turkey's Black
Sea coast were greatly appreciated by all. We warmly thank the City of Ordu
for its munificent hospitality and support before, during and after the
event. The sessions
focused on: ·
the prospect of Turkey's entry
into the EU ·
media freedom: current problems
and issues (including a pledge to support the Council of Europe's
Database on Violations of Media Freedom, see Media Freedom) · the role of media and tourism in bringing nations/societies in conflict closer The country
reports for Armenia,
Belarus,
Bulgaria
(PowerPoint) and Ukraine,
and the speech delivered by Birgitta
Jonsdottir are available on the international AEJ's website. The congress
was also told about preparation of the petition to the Turkish
government to release 40 journalists from prison and repeal the laws that put
them there. |
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AEJ
in Europe Photo
Gallery: Bucharest 2011 Other AEJ sections |
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