Journalists from Russia and African countries start to develop information strategy

The second international forum of journalists from Russia and Africa, dedicated to the anniversary of the signing of the memorandum on information co-operation, was held in Moscow.

The event was organised by the Russian-African Club, the Faculty of Journalism and the Faculty of Global Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University with the support of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The media partner of the forum is TV BRICS.

The forum of journalists was attended by diplomats and members of the African countries’ governments, media industry top managers, producers, TV presenters, journalists, public figures, scientists, teachers, representatives of the cultural and media spheres. In total, about 100 people from 32 countries took part in the forum, including Russia, African countries, the Middle East, India and Brazil.

Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, Chairman of the Council of the Russian-African Club of Lomonosov Moscow State University, addressed the participants with welcoming remarks. He spoke about the upcoming Russia-Africa Ministerial Conference to be held in Sochi in November this year. The foreign ministers of Russia and African countries will meet there.

“When preparing for this event, it is very important to create an appropriate information background, to provide both Russian and African media with diverse interesting information about the development of relations between our countries and peoples,” the Ambassador concluded.

An expert from India, professor, journalist Dwivedi Ratnesh noted that Russia is a model for India of how the Government supports the activities of national media, controlling and, at the same time, respecting the independent constructive opinions of journalists.

The Executive Secretary of the Russian-African Club of Lomonosov Moscow State University Alexander Berdnikov noted that all proposals formulated by the forum participants would be taken into account during the work of the Journalists Association of Russia and African Countries. The main takeaway of the forum was the decision on the need to develop an information strategy for strengthening Russian-African relations.