The ‘vital role’ played by public service media (PSM) in advancing media freedom in the South Caucasus region of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia was highlighted at a  conference jointly organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Tbilisi (11 November).  

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, described PSM as ‘an important source of unbiased information and diverse political opinions’ at the 11th annual South Caucasus Conference titled ‘Public Service Broadcasting in the Digital Age.’

The conference addressed the challenges, opportunities and strategic dilemmas for PSM in the digital age, and the latest media freedom developments in the South Caucasus bringing together more than 75 journalists, representatives of government, NGOs and academia from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, along with international experts and participants from Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Kazakhstan. 

In a presentation titled ‘New Digital Age: Media trends and opportunities,’ Head of EBU Member Relations David Lewis spoke about the EBU's Integrated Media Production Strategies and the conclusions of the 2020Vision project – a year-long EBU-led investigation into media trends and opportunities.  

Senior EBU consultant and former Vice-President Boris Bergant addressed the importance of vision and mission to PSM; the conference also included reports on media freedom developments in the South Caucassus; Ivars Belte, chairman of Latvian Public TV spoke about the financing and management of public broadcasting.

The public broadcasters Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are among the EBU's newest Active Members, joining the Union in the mid-2000s after it opened its doors to broadcasters from Council of Europe countries outside the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) European Broadcasting Zone.

Mr Bergant is currently working with the Georgian public broadcaster to update a five-year strategy designed four years ago with assistance from a team of consultants led by himself and coordinated by the EBU's Partnership Programme (EPP).

Last week the EBU delegation was in Yerevan for talks with Armenian Public Television and Armenian Public Radio, whose common Chairman is considering merging the two organizations – starting with their news services  – beginning in 2015. The visit overlapped with a leadership training course conducted by the Eurovision ACADEMY in Yerevan and sponsored by the EPP.

The mission to Yerevan and Tbilisi took place a month after an exchange of letters between the EBU and the European Union EU on strengthening PSM in the EU Neighbourhood countries, which include Armenia and Georgia.