International Colloquium at VMU Takes on Journalism and Media Change in Central Europe

2011/10/09 – 10:59

Kaunas, LITHUANIA – (7 October 2011) – On Friday 14 October, 10 a.m. to 5.15 p.m., international colloquium Between Adoption and Adaptation: Contemporary Perspectives on Journalism and Media Change in Central Europe will be held at the Vytautas Magnus University’s (VMU) Rector’s Office (K. Donelaičio g. 58). The colloquium, which is organized by scientists at the VMU Dept. of Public Communication, will welcome specialists and researchers of Central and Eastern European media who will address the transformations of Central European journalism and the new models and experiences that are emerging.

The event’s organizer Professor Auksė Balčytienė explained that the event will focus on the media of Central Europe, which has changed a lot since the collapse of the Soviet Union and is now undergoing drastic, all-encompassing transformations. “At the moment, rapid global changes related not just to economic or political crises but to re-evaluation of values are taking place. Society, as well as the media, has to adapt to them accordingly. The changes serve as an instrument which can be used to study the transformations of the last 20 years in the wider context of contemporary modernity”, Prof. Auksė Balčytienė said.

According to the colloquium’s organizer, the speakers will cover a broad spectrum of ideas related to ongoing changes and transformations as well as emerging challenges that contemporary journalism and media professionals, scholars, policy makers need to address in diverse political and cultural contexts. “In the colloquium, we seek to research the experiences of Central and Eastern European media transformations and encourage debates about the complex processes in our societies”, Prof. Auksė Balčytienė summarized the goal of the international event.

The topics to be discussed at the colloquium include media ownership change as well as changes in the business models of the media, changing journalistic professionalism requirements and continual attempts to meet media’s democratic performance requests, effects of cultural traditions, values and norms on journalism, declining trust of the audience in the media, growing use and adaptability of the Internet-inspired communicative practices in media and communications, etc.

One of the most respectable guests of the colloquium is Prof. Peter Gross, Director and Professor at the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, College of Communication and Information, University of Tennessee, USA. He will present a retrospective on two decades of media transformation in the post-Communist world. “He is one of those Western European scientists who see Central Europe not as a region which needs to adopt Western standards, but rather as an opportunity for the West itself to change. Peter Gross’ research is not founded on the Western European tradition, instead for him it is just one of the many choices and models in the search for the ways for the regions of the Old Continent to understand each other. It is yet another voice which has to be heard”, the organizer of the colloquium described the coming guest.

Other speakers of the event are representatives of academic and media institutions in the USA, Poland, Romania, Belarus, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, scholars, researchers and professionals who have gathered a wealth of experience which allows them to stand firm in the face of these transformations and look for possible solutions.

More information:
Prof. Auksė Balčytienė
Dept. of Public Communications
Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy
Vytautas Magnus University
E-mail: a.balcytiene@pmdf.vdu.lt
Phone: +370 37 228 696
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Vytautas Magnus University is an institution of higher education in Lithuania, renowned locally and internationally for its unique liberal study system and successful international relations with other universities all over the world. At VMU, traditions and innovations meet and complement each other in research as well as in studies, constantly developing as a community and cherishing values of personal dignity, individuality, tolerance and openness to various cultures and worldviews, relevancy to global challenges and promotion of inventive research and modern teaching. Great educational and cultural significance to Lithuanian history, dissemination of liberal thought and high quality of studies are what makes Vytautas Magnus University an exceptional institution.

For more information, please visit the website of the university: http://www.vdu.lt/en.

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