Civil society and the media

In a modern, democratic public, political confrontation mainly takes place over media. To make politics interesting for the general public, they must be edited and presented accordingly. The politicians' appearance, their manner of speaking and their capability of presenting programmatic contents in a simple way are decisive for their success or failure. It is not their aim to convince potential voters by offering substantive arguments, instead, their strategy is a constant repetition of simplified messages. The close relation of commercial media to politics, which reflects in paid ads, is as alarming as the control of media by large corporations.

Progressive civil society initiatives cannot and mostly do not want to work on the principles mentioned above. They use other strategies of media work. A large number of people can be reached and mobilized today by free media, self-governing communication systems and the use of large social networks.

Print media and public broadcasting services still play an important role in the knowledge transfer of civil society movements and are often crucial for the success or failure of an initiative.

This panel discussion with media representatives, experts and journalists will shed light on the different aspects of modern media work.