GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM
High profile, hybrid and for everyone Disruptive change needs innovative thinkers, inspiring topics and interdisciplinary exchange. On June 14 and 15, the Global Media Forum will provide the platform and the conference program to do exactly this — journalistically crafted, diverse across all borders and accessible for everyone at dw.com/gmf by Martina Bertram, DW editor
Renowned experts from media, politics, culture and science as well as business and civil society will discuss “Disruption and Innovation” in the predominantly digital realm this year. Joining us, amongst many others: video blogger Nuseir Yassin, Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum and Jesper Doub from Facebook. They will discuss the challenges of disruptive innovations and at the same time address opportunities to influence these developments. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will open the conference. Armin Laschet, Minister-President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and leader of Germany’s governing CDU party as well as Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State for Inter national Cultural Policy at the German Federal Foreign Office, will also address the audience. The prominent line-up of the digital forum also includes Maria Ressa, who has just received the UNESCO Press Freedom Prize, and Irene Khan, UN rapporteur for press freedom (see interview). In addition, Liberian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee and EU Commission Vice President Věra Jourová will participate in panel discussions this year. Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang will focus her contribution on the importance of technological innovation for democracy while Noel Curran, director general European Broadcasting Corporation (EBU), and Jessica Zucker from Facebook will discuss how media can regain
40 Weltzeit 2 | 2021
the trust that has been lost through misinformation campaigns. Also joining the 2021 Global Media Forum is Felipe Neto. The Brazilian YouTuber is one of the most watched y outubers in the world and is considered a harsh critic of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. A rtificial intelligence and its global spread in surveillance technology will be the topic of the talk panel with Manny Maung, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, who will report on her work in Myanmar. U.S. historian Timothy Snyder will speak on “Disrupted democracies and the media.” Also confirmed are Ling Fan, founder and CEO of Tezign, and Philip Justus of Google. Iranian human rights activist Masih Alinejad will report on niches and opportunities for press freedom, the topic which Annalena Baerbock, chairwoman of the Green Party of Germany, will also address in her keynote. The importance of diversity for society and the media will be the topic of a talk with British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak and Ellen Ehni, editor-in-chief at Germany’s public broadcaster WDR. Constructive approaches to journalism will be explored by Ulrik Haagerup, founder and CEO of the Constructive Institute. Imme Baumüller of the German newspaper Handelsblatt and Nic Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, will spotlight how data can be used to make journalism profitable and successful in the
digital world. Philip F. Howard from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and Thomas Schmid, director of the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia, and chairman of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA), will discuss social media, responsibility and regulation.
“Place made for minds” The DW Global Media Forum 2021 is accessible to everyone free of charge after registration on dw.com/gmf. You can expect two days full of discussion and exchange, including 14 partner sessions to deepen and expand your knowledge. Networking opportunities, an international start-up contest, an online game and the award ceremony for of the DW Freedom of Speech Award 2021 round up the conference program. The partner sessions will host a variety of sessions and thus create their own streaming channel on the platform. These include contributions from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (based in Istanbul), the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (Berlin) and the Goethe-Institut (Munich). In addition, the Global Media Forum has invited startups worldwide to participate in a competition related to the topic “Disruption and Innovation.” After the pitch phase, an international jury will select three winners who will be presented at the Global Media Forum.
