ZAGREB/SARAJEVO/PULA – A conference to promote investigative journalism and journalistic independence in South East Europe, while respecting data protection principles, will open in Pula, Croatia, on Wednesday, 30 May.

The conference is co-organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretariat, the RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, the European Association of Public Service Media in South East Europe, and the Croatian Radio-Television.

The two-day event will analyze the relationship between public service media and security institutions, explore media role in crisis management, discuss data protection principles, promote freedom of expression standards, foster media pluralism, and support cooperation between regional public service media and state institutions.

The meeting will seek to increase regional cooperation through dialogue and transfer of knowledge, views and ideas, and build a more open, transparent and stable environment in South East Europe. It will draw attention to the importance of investigative journalism as a tool through which journalists and media as such foster public interest and contribute to an overall development and democratization of a society including in the field of security.

The event is a follow-up activity to the Conference on public media and security in South East Europe, held at the RACVIAC Centre in Zagreb, Croatia, in November 2011.

Journalists are invited to the opening of the conference on Wednesday, 30 May 2012, at 9.15 a.m., at Dom hrvatskih branitelja (Croatian Army Hall), Leharova 1, 52100 Pula, Croatia.

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