The 22nd conference of COPEAM kicks off in Valletta, Malta
(ANSAmed) - LA VALLETTA - Migrations across the Mediterranean Sea - with their key political, social and economic implications - and the delicate role of the media in the region in reporting such a key issue are at the center of the 22nd annual gathering of the Permanent Conference of Mediterranean audiovisual Operators (COPEAM) that kicked off Friday morning in La Valletta. The two-day event will see some 200 representatives of public radio and television networks from the Mediterranean area discuss ways to boost cooperation among the media and improve reports on epic migration flows. Malta's Culture Minister Owen Bonnici opened the conference, whose inaugural session sees the participation of the president of Italy's State broadcaster Rai, Anna Maria Tarantola, who is also vice-president of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of COPEAM's president Talalel Makdessi and of the president of Malta's PBS, Tonio Portughese.
Tarantola cited the harrowing data on migration on Italy's coasts, stressing that ''behind those numbers are human beings''.
Friday's session was preceded on Thursday night by the presentation of The Sixth Continent, a photo project by Mattia Insolera across the Mediterranean and an award ceremony for the documentaries In the Name of the Father by Peter Leban and Tommaso Mania for Slovenia's RTV and Halima by Ahmed Madfai for SNRT-Morocco - which received the Inter-Rives IV award.
(ANSAmed).
