OSCE Centre organizes lectures on modern media for journalism students in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, 5 May 2012 – Thirty students from the Institute of International Relations of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan successfully completed an OSCE-supported series of lectures on media in the modern world and genres of contemporary international journalism in Ashgabat today.

The six-day course was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan. It brought together third- and fourth-year students majoring in international journalism. The students discussed modern mass media trends, the role of media in international relations, media freedom matters and challenges that independent media face, as well as development of public television and perspectives of international journalism in the 21st century.

“In our increasingly globalized world, international journalism plays an important role in international relations and political processes. These lectures are another important step in the co-operation between the OSCE Centre and Turkmenistan in the area of media development,” said Ambassador Sergei Belyaev, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in his message to the students.

He added that the lectures would aid the exchange of experiences among the students and teachers of the Turkmenistan Institute and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The Dean of the International Journalism Department of the latter, Yaroslav Skvortsov, delivered the course.

Skvortsov said: “Mass media makes the world increasingly smaller. Watching TV or using web-media, we may follow events all over the world as if they are happening across the street. During these six days, future journalists and media professionals received an opportunity to better understand the role of media in today’s world.”