13th December 2016
By Tom Law

Global Intermedia Dialogue 2017

Ten years debating freedom of expression – looking back, looking forward

Jakarta 23 – 25 January 2017

Ten years after the first Global Intermedia Dialogue (GIMD) conference was held in Indonesia, the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oslo and Akershus University College and the Department of Communication at Universitas Indonesia brought together journalists and academics to debate the many challenges facing media today.

The conference put special emphasis on cooperation with journalists and academics in Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This year the event widened to include Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. In these countries, the dilemmas related to freedom of speech, democracy and security are many and nuanced. Journalist and academic experiences and reflections are vital for our exchanges in a world where ‘clash-of-civilisations’ theories are widespread.

PROGRAM: 

Monday 23rd January

  • Panel 1 – Looking back, looking forward: Globalising freedom of expression.

Tuesday 24th January

  • Panel 2 – Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech. Social media and ambiguous experiences.
  • Panel 3 – Media and marginalisation. Silencing of voices – gender, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities.
  • Panel 4 – Dialogue vs confrontation, 20 years after Huntington’s “Clash of Civilisations”

Wednesday 25th January

  • Panel 5 – Freedom of expression and terrorism. Extremism and silencing of progressive voices.
  • Panel 6 – The Post-Truth Era?   Challenging the Concept of Truth: Traditional vs Social Media Realities?
  • Panel 7 – How free is fiction? Literature and limits.

Main photo: Strong voices for #FreedomOfSpeech at Global Inter Media Dialogue Conference (Photo: Hilde Solbakken ‏@DubesNorwegia)