German-Russian Media Dialog

Russian and German journalists were invited for a third time by the Robert Bosch Stiftung for an exchange in the middle of January.  The 2010 meetings included a session focused on Europe: How is Europe portrayed in the media? What hopes are linked to its institutions? And what has changed for Germany and Russia since the fall of the Iron Curtain? The German side consisted of editors in chief and experienced journalists from print and TV; the Russian side included the most prominent actors in the Russian media.

A recurring theme throughout the discussions was the common values shared by Europe and Russia. Whereas most participants favored a community of values, in the end the best basis on which to build stronger relations appeared to be common interests.  These relations are primarily of an economic nature as the EU is Russia’s largest trading partner, accounting for 52% of its trade. All in all, the journalists agreed that Europe’s presence in national media had diminished – and that such was the case the East as well as in the West. Europe and the EU are overly abstract entities without a personal side, and except for economic issues offer very few exciting stories for the media. But according to Uli Jörges (Stern) in Germany Europe remains nevertheless a fundamental if unspoken force in politics and thinking.  Arkadi Dubnov (Vremja Novostej) and Anastasia Alekseeva (correspondent for the online newspaper Tchastnij) also found this to be true for Russia.

The Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev warned in his contribution that if Russia was not actively integrated into Europe, it might permanently turn its back to the West and thereby become the center of a new space extending all the way to Asia.

Dr. Ingrid Hamm, the dialog’s moderator and the executive director of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and Prof. Dr. Jo Groebel, the director of the Deutsches Digital Institut, emphasized that common economic interests represented a solid basis for developing common values in a pragmatic way.

This exchange between representatives of the German and Russian media will be continued next year.