EUSSR financierer EUROMED TV-Netværk

Television is actually building a bridge between Mediterranean neighbours and becoming a sort of node for intercultural dialogue.

Such is the idea behind Euromed News, a project backed by the EU and headed by France Televisions that is being launched today in Brussels.

It will garner six public television networks (Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Syria and Morocco) together with European networks already working together in the European Broadcasting Union (Ebu), plus those with Copeam (the Mediterranean area network) and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (Asbu).

Euromed News aims to produce, exchange and distribute joint productions based on issues linked to the partnership between the EU and Countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean ranging from the development of renewable power sources to the role played by women in rural areas. It will cover a total of 17 hours of daily broadcasts over the next 14 months, including news reports and documentaries. The EU will finance the project with 2.1 million euros.

Commissioner responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero Waldner explained that “the clients that will most benefit from this project are the citizens of EU partner countries that live on the southern shores of the Mediterranean”.

She emphasised the key role played by television, while Patrick De Carolis, president of France Televisions, stated that “40% of the population of the Med area comprises young people, especially women, and that is who we are addressing”. Asbu general director Salah Eddine Maaoui believes that the project represents the chance to set up a ‘dialogue between civilizations”.

He will be the executive producer for programmes aired by Arab networks, ‘finally providing an image of modern Arab society”. Maaoui stated that the choice of topics and how they will be dealt with will be decided by the consortium’s board of directors, ‘according to the rules of the profession”. Euromed News could become the key to unlock press freedom in the Mediterranean area.

According to Ferrero Waldner, the project “represents a political instrument to promote freedom of the press“. De Carolis added that ‘Jordan has proposed a series of documentaries on social and economic reforms, Syria suggested programmes on the development of SMEs, while Morocco wants to support female and youth employment”. Ferrero Waldner concluded that “Euromed News will enable us to reach many young people that don’t read, and the use of images will allow us to form a more open and tolerant society“.

(ANSAmed).

Det er længe siden, man har læst så mange floskler på så få sætninger. Jeg nøjes med at fremhæve istedet for at kommentere. Spørgsmålet er, hvem skal være åbne for dialog og øge sin tolerance? Hvor skal arbejdspladserne findes etc etc. Hvor er israelsk TV?