The Buzz Around the Ballot

In the post-truth era, the fourth estate (now including social media) has become a tool to challenge democracy. Reflecting this poignant scenario, the new issue of Visegrad Insight includes a report on Media Consumption Trends, an interview with Robert Pszczel from NATO HQ and a timely section on Media, Populism and Power.

Visegrad Insight (V/I) is proud to continue reporting on the state of journalism, propaganda and trends in public communication in CEE, and our coverage of these issues will be on-going in order to offer our readers a more comprehensive understanding of these developing situations in the V4 and CEE.

Market Movers: In this new issue, you will find a survey by five tech-savvy editors who were asked their opinions on the impact of the internet on media and politics. Following that analysis, the new issue of V/I includes a report about the advertisement market in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which breaks down which forms of media are being followed and which generate value. Among many others, the volume covers a number of articles on the fate of freedoms in CEE, the evolution of fake news, the pitfalls of merchandising doubt as well as opportunities and potential snags which lie ahead for the EU, all written by outstanding journalists and contributors from across the V4 and further afield in Europe.

Digital Dilemmas: We are honoured to showcase articles and interviews by Botond Feledy, Michael Chertoff (the former United States Secretary of Homeland Security) and Tomasz Matula who comment for V/I, respectively, on cyber security in the V4, the impact of the 2017 cyber attack in Ukraine and the vulnerability of Polish cyber systems.

Available Now: For those who can’t wait for their paper copies, the new issue is already online at http://visegradinsight.eu/2-11-2017/

The premiere of the new issue of Visegrad Insight is on on 7th of December and will be in parallel with the conference „MYTH and REALITY – Countering Disinformation in the V4„. The event is this Thursday at 9.00 AM at the Zielna Conference Center, Zielna 37 str., Europa Room, 6th floor in Warsaw. There, more than 20 experts will discuss and analyze initiatives from countering disinformation in the V4, cyber security, NATO’s role in the changing media landscapes of CEE to the strengthening of deterrence so vital for the region.

Distinguished participants will include: Marek Magierowski (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland), Tomas Liptak (Strategic Communications Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic), Joerg Forbrig (Director, Fund for Belarus Democracy, and Senior Transatlantic Fellow, Central and Eastern Europe, GMF), Robert Pszczel (NATO Public Diplomacy Division), Cornelius Ochmann (the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation), and many others will consider such pressing questions as: the expanding cooperation of NATO and the V4 in regards to the new media and disinformation era, ways to win the disinformation battle, the digital revolution and whether it’s a cause or remedy to disinformation and last, but not least, the importance of cyber literacy.

The full agenda can be found at http://visegradinsight.eu/conference_disinformation/. The conference will also be live-streamed on Facebook.  

Visegrad Insight is an analysis and opinion journal led by accomplished editors from the Visegrad Group countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Its aim is to provide a platform for high profile debate on the perspectives and challenges for cooperation of the Central European governments, businesses and communities. V/I is published twice a year by Res Publica, and more information can be found at visegradinsight.eu and at Facebook and Twitter.