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International conference 'Terrorism and Electronic Media' to open in Belgrade

A source told TASS that the conference’s main purpose was to draw the attention of the world media community to the problems of countering terrorism through electronic media

BELGRADE, October 19 /TASS/. The 12th international two-day conference "Terrorism and Electronic Media" is kicking off in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Wednesday. The conference is supported by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Communications.

A source at the press service of the International Academy of Television and Radio (IATR), the event's organizer, told TASS that the conference’s main purpose was "to draw the attention of the world media community as well as national state and non-governmental organizations concerned to the problems of countering terrorism through electronic media."

This year the conference will discuss such important topics as: the responsibility of journalists in the struggle against the propaganda of hatred and violence; social networks as a medium for spreading the ideas of terrorism; the role of media in the coverage of terrorist activity in Europe, Middle East and Syria and the role of electronic media in the united international front against terrorism.

The conference’s program includes speeches at the plenary meeting, roundtable meetings; the showing of various TV programs; films and Internet resources on counter-terrorism subjects as well as discussions on most urgent items on the agenda.

Leonid Mlechin, the head of the IATR executive board and director for historical and journalistic programs of the Russian Public Television, and Vladimir Kozlov, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, will deliver speeches at the opening ceremony.

Nikolay Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), addressed the delegates with a speech of welcome.

The main speakers include Frane Maroevic, Director of the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media; Laurence Gerard, a public information officer of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF); Maja Stojanovic, a representative of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade; as well as experts and prominent public and political figures of Serbia.

More than 60 journalists and experts from more than 15 countries and the heads and representatives of such international organizations as the CSTO; the United Nations; the OSCE and the Council of Europe are attending the conference. They are planning to adopt the final document upon the forum’s completion.