The third Mass Media Forum of Moldova will be held on November 14-15 this year. A decision to this effect was taken by the initiative group that consists of representatives of nongovernmental organizations that annually convoke the Forum, under the auspices of the Press Council, IPN reports.

Secretary of the Press Council Petru Macovei said the event this year will focus on several priority themes, such as false news articles, manipulation of information and the way in which these phenomena influence the public’s confidence in the mass media. The Mass Media Forum will include a debate on the issue that will involve representatives of the journalistic community of the country and experts from abroad. As in the previous editions, the Forum will involve representatives of all the editorial staffs of Moldova. One can apply to take part in the forum through the website www.mediaforum.md starting with September. The previous forums brought together about 200 representatives of media outlets from all over the country, including ATU Gagauzia and the Transnistrian region.

The Mass Media Forum 2017 will be held in cooperation with Deutsche Welle Akademie of Germany, which centers on journalist training and media education. German experts will give masterclasses. One of them will be devoted to television journalists and will center on the conduct of talk-shows. Another masterclass will focus on the online media, while the third on the print media and will be aimed at strengthening the development capacities of these media in the difficult conditions existing on the Moldovan market.

As usual, several workshops will be held on the second day of the Forum. There will be discussed concrete problems face by journalists in the Republic of Moldova, such as communication with authorities, access to information and classification of information, impact of journalistic investigations. A thematic workshop will center on the activity of national and regional public broadcasters in Moldova. This will involve representatives of public institutions and other decision makers. On the first day of the Forum, there will be staged a side event on fact checking will emphasis on the participation in election campaigns.

The Mass Media Forum of Moldova has been convoked since 2015 under the aegis of the Press Council. The largest part of the financing for organizing the Forum is provided by the Media Program of Soros Foundation Moldova. This year, contributions will also be made by Deutsche Welle Akademie and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom of Germany.