Conferences, forums, contests
For a joint discussion of various acute issues and a competent and professional coverage of their activities during the past period the Fund realized various joint actions including conferences, forums, seminars, round table meetings, etc. They are as follows: a republican conference on Improvement of Media Coverage of Acute Social Security Tasks; a forum on Media Coverage of Issues of Improving the State of Women in Society, Maternity and Childhood Protection; a republican conference on Improving Media Coverage of the Country's Social Life; a forum on The Role and Importance of Media in Increasing the Youth's Part in the Process of Country's Renewal; a round table meetings: "The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is a Legal Basis of Democratic renewal" and "High Spirituality, Independent Opinion and Trust in Future Are the Criteria of National Progress", a republican conference on Priority Tasks of Formation of Law-Governed State and Strong Civil Society at the Present Stage, etc.
In order to raise professional level of journalists, improve their skills and increase their activities the Fund promoted the organization of about 50 various actions including conferences, media forums, seminars, trainings, master-classes, round-table meetings and others. They include: a seminar "The role and tasks of the executive secretary in modern print media", a seminar-training "The formation of media business fundamentals in print media and Internet", a round table meeting "Social and political reporting in the print media and Internet: problems and their solution", a media forum "The role of modern information and communication technologies in print media activities and prospects for the development of the country's Internet resources", a seminar "Improvement of journalists' skill and training of young journalists: records, problems, prospects", a round table meeting "Improvement of print media activities in building an open civil society", a seminar-training "Reporting in print media and Internet publications: specifics of the genre and practice"; a media forum "Media activities in the formation of information society", etc.
То widely cover the priority directions of public life and to more fully satisfy the people's requirements for socially important information and to stimulate the fulfillment of tasks set to them, the Fund has organized contests among domestic journalists and local editors such as: "Society and me", "My Constitution", "Miss the Press", "Acknowledgement", also jointly with partners in covering the events republican contests "Kelajak ovozi", "Uzbekistan -My Motherland", "Human rights in journalists' opinion", etc. were held.
It is also important to study International experience and work of the world's leading media in order to develop the national media structures in line with the world standards. In this connection the Fund has an International relations department and at present it is working over various International projects including:
to organize actions with representative offices of foreign media and International organizations taking part;
to arrange cooperation and exchange information with foreign media units;
to organize training courses for gifted students of journalism departments at prestigious foreign higher educational establishments, etc.
At present the Fund is arranging cooperation with representative offices in Uzbekistan of a number of foreign and International organizations, including UN DP, UNESCO and others. For example, a seminar - training on "The Role of Mass Media in the Process of Democratic Transformations" was held jointly with the US New Democracies Institute. The action was dedicated to increasing the role of mass media in ensuring the people's right to get unbiased and truthful information, the formation of democratic values in people's minds and of their civil stand. Taking into account that the theme was interesting and acute the action was organized in the form of a video conference and representatives from Karakalpak Republic, Andijan, Samarkand, Bukhara and Kashkadarya regional media units took part in the discussion.
At present mass media of Uzbekistan, including non-governmental ones, are gradually becoming important in the solution of priority tasks of the civil society institutions, in other words, in providing for the protection of democratic values and principles, rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of people, increasing their social activeness and political culture, in the formation of a democratic world view of society members. At the same time much has yet to be done to turn mass media into an efficient means of expressing public opinion and of its formation. That all requires that mass media activities be further renewed and democratized.
