The BRICS Media Summit has started in Moscow. The event gathered leading experts from over 60 media outlets from 45 countries. The main theme of the meeting is “The Role of Media in a Multipolar World”.

The Media Summit is attended by high-ranking officials and media representatives not only from the BRICS countries but also from nations interested in expanding cooperation with the union. The guests were welcomed by the photo exhibition “BRICS Family,” which showcases the works of photojournalists from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Ethiopia, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. At the opening ceremony, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov greeted the participants of the summit in the format of a video message. He noted the role of the media in interstate communication development, strengthening the atmosphere of friendship, trust, and mutual understanding between peoples.

“I hope that the summit will become a platform for establishing business contacts and sharing experience and will contribute to the emergence of a constructive news and information agenda based on truth and verified facts”

Sergey Lavrov
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Fu Hua, Executive Chairman of the BRICS Media Forum and President of China’s Xinhua News Agency, also addressed the event. He emphasised that the media have a special mission, being active participants in the construction of the BRICS cooperation mechanism.

“We (the media. – Ed.) will continue working to make our voice heard, to bring progress, and to establish a multipolar world. We want the BRICS story to be globally recognised and the influence of the union to grow,” Fu Hua said. The meeting includes a plenary session on “The role of the BRICS media community in bolstering stability in a multipolar world”.

Speakers will include representatives of TV BRICS media partners, including Jose Juan Sanchez, CMA Group President, Yu Zijun, Secretary General of the Chinese newspaper Renmin Ribao (“People’s Daily”), Yohannes Wondirad, Director of Public Relations and Strategic Partnerships of the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), and Luis Enrique Gonzalez Acosta, President of Prensa Latina News Agency. In an exclusive commentary for TV BRICS, Yohannes Wondirad said the ongoing summit in Moscow will help the media to build partnerships, exchange ideas, and deepen cooperation.

“The main purpose of the BRICS Media Summit is to share experience. We can, for instance, learn something new from TV BRICS. Ethiopian news agencies in Africa will, in turn, pass on their experience to this international media network and other Russian media or media from the group’s countries. So this is a good opportunity,” he explained.

Furthermore, during the panel discussion, the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, noted the efficient work of TV BRICS. “In 2017 in China at the IX BRICS summit on the proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the TV BRICS International Media Network was created. Today, this network has united more than 70 media outlets from around the world; it has 1.5 billion users and content in five languages: Russian, English, Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish. I am confident that the BRICS information space will expand in the near future,” he said.

On Sunday, 15 September, experts will discuss the technological transformation of BRICS media at a plenary session. Mohammad Sarfi, Editor-in-Chief of Tehran Times, will participate in the roundtable.

The BRICS Media Summit takes place from 13 to 17 September in the year of Russia’s chairmanship in the group. The event was established in 2015 as a non-governmental platform for dialogue between the leading media outlets of the group’s countries. This is the seventh time the meeting has been held, but now it is in a summit format.

Photo: TV BRICS