Discussion Forum

Journalism Practice in Latvia: Access to Information and dealing with the Requests to Retract News in Case of Honor Offence

The Latvian Association of Journalists, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Latvia in cooperation with the Centre for Media Studies at SSE Riga, invites to the discussion forum “Journalism Practice in Latvia: Access to Information and Dealing with the Requests to Retract News in Case of Honor Offence”.

May 12
13:00 – 15:00 (EEST)

Online, ZOOM 

The results of two studies will be presented at the first part of the forum, followed by guest speakers and experts from Netherlands.

The author of the study, Mārtiņš Pričins, will talk about the experience of journalists in connection with the requests to retract information and legal aspects of this topic.

Klinta Ločmele will present the  study on journalists’ real life experience when trying to access the information in Latvia as well as cases when state or local government institutions do not provide or deliberately delay providing information, thus influencing the work of journalists and hindering the audience’s access to public information. 

Leon Willems, Director of Free Press Unlimited and Bas van Beek, Co-founder and Investigative Reporter at Platform Authentic Journalism (Dutch: Authentieke Journalistiek) will contribute to the discussion by sharing their experience on these issues. 
 

At the second part of the event the discussion will take place on the access to information practices.

 
Panelists:
  • Vita Anda Tērauda (Chair of Media Policy Subcommittee of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament));
  • Guntis Bojārs (Editor-in-chief of Latvian Public TV News Service);
  • Arta Ģiga (Editor-in-chief of an Investigative Journalism Program “Nekā Personīga”, Board Member of Latvian Journalists Association).
 
The event will be moderated by Sanita Jemberga (Executive Director and Editor at The Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism “Re:Baltica”).
*Presentations and discussion will take place in Latvian language with simultaneous translation to English. Pre-registration for the event is required.

Programme:

13:00 – 13:02 Opening words by Sanita Jemberga 

13:02 – 13:05 Welcome from Lieske de Krijger (Deputy Head Of Mission at Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Latvia)

13:05 – 13:20 Research on journalists’ legal protection (Mārtiņš Pričins)

13:20 – 13:40 Research on information accessibility (Klinta Ločmele)

13:40 – 13:50 Leon Willems, Director of Free Press Unlimited

13:50 – 14:00 Bas van Beek, Co-founder and Investigative Reporter at Platform Authentic Journalism 

14:00 – 14:10 QA to Leon Willems and Bas van Beek

14:10 – 14:15 break

14:15 – 14:55 Discussion: Arta Ģiga, Guntis Bojārs, Vita Anda Tērauda

14:55 – 15:00 Close

Mārtiņš Pričins

PhD candidate in communication science, lecturer at the University of Latvia and Vidzeme University College. Mārtiņš was also a coordinator of the international project “European Elections Monitoring Center” in Latvia and a researcher, currently a participant of the Latvian Science Council project “Risks of Democracy Caused by Disinformation and Conspiracy: Reviewing the Latvian Experience”. 

Klinta Ločmele

Doctor of Communication Science, researcher at the Advenced Social and Political Research Institute of the University of Latvia. Lecturer of study courses on Latvian media environment, media literacy, communication theory and practice at the University of Latvia, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and Turība University. Manager of media literacy projects. From 2015 to 2019, she worked in the Media Policy Division of the Ministry of Culture.

With the generous support of:

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