Сhief Editor of the newspaper "South Ossetia" Zalina Tskhovrebova has taken part in the II World Media Summit "Global Media: Challenges of the XXI Century", held July 4-8 in Moscow.
On her return to Tskhinval Tskhovrebova told IA "Res" that the World Media Summit brought together more than 300 media executives from 103 countries around the world.
The main theme of the World Summit was the discussion of the pressing issues of global media space, new informational challenges , the vectors of transformation of modern media, financial and other aspects of the world media.
"In his welcoming address to the summit, President of Russia Vladimir Putin has said that it is the information resources in all their diversity - from newspapers and television channels to broadcast media and the Internet, - that largely determine the present and the future of the world politics and economy, all spheres of life. Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev expressed his opinion of ensuring the independence of media, "- said the editor.
Tskhovrebova added that the participants of the Media Summit had also been addressed with a welcoming speech by the UN Secretary General Pan Gi-Moon, Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin, President of the International Academy of Television and Radio Anatoly Lysenko and others.
"It was noted that the journalists met with danger not only in the conflict zones, but also when they are preparing materials about government agencies, police, business structures or the drug cartels and arms traffickers. Therefore, governments should do their utmost to protect journalists. It was also mentioned a need to develop common international rules, which could become the "relations matrix" system between media and government ", - underlined Tskhovrebova.
Tskhovrebova has stressed that journalists from South Ossetia attended such a high-level summit for the first time.
"I, as an editor, as a representative of the country, recognized by Russia, was afforded a unique opportunity to tell about stirring problems of not only the journalists from South Ossetia, but also of all our fellow citizens. In my speech, I, of course, focused on the war in August 2008, "- stressed the editor.
According to the South Ossetian journalist, it is the events of that August, which became an indicator for the media around the world and the test for objectivity, fairness and human decency of the concrete journalists.
"We should state with regret that representatives of the "free" Western media did not survive this test. They have completely ignored the fact that it was the Georgian side, which had initiated the war. By showing the world the flaming shots of Tskhinval, they were affirming that it was the Georgian town of Gori, bombed by the "Russian barbarians", "- said Tskhovrebova.
She said that many Western journalists and media workers from the CIS countries had expressed willingness to cooperate with the South Ossetian counterparts.
According to her, the II World Media Summit, held on the initiative of ITAR-TASS, was attended by representatives of the major news agencies, television and radio channels, as the Associated Press, BBC, NBC, Reuters, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Kyodo, Xinhua, MENA.
Among the guests were also the leaders of nine international organizations, including UNESCO, and the delegation of the European Parliament.
The III World Media Summit is scheduled for 2014 in Bahrain.
