Democracy, free press media go hand in hand

VIENNA - Doğan News Agency

Doğan Holding Chairwoman Faralyalı poses with former US President Clinton.

Democracy and a free press are like twins for sustainable growth, said Doğan Holding Chairwoman Begümhan Doğan Faralyalı at the second annual meeting of the Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation (CGDC) in Vienna.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is also attending the event, which will end tomorrow.

Speaking at the “Democracy and Economic Power” session of the conference, which was chaired by Hans Demmel, the chief executive of Germany’s N-TV, Faralyalı said democracy cannot be defined by only looking at the election methods of governments.

Media’s role
The media plays a big role in democracies as it provides information for the public, serves as a communication platform for politicians and society, helps people develop their ideas and unveils corruption.

Thus, securing pluralism and diversity in media is crucial for the information exchange that feeds democracy.

Despite some problems of reliability, new media, which has emerged with the Internet and mobile technologies, helps spread democracy, and this tends to accelerate, she said.

Scholarship for students from Balkans
Speaking at an evening session on May 19, Clinton said the CGDC will provide scholarships to students from the Western Balkans to support cultural interaction.

The Western Balkans is the only European region where Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim people have lived together for centuries, Clinton noted.

Former Albanian Prime Minister İlir Meta, ABL Group Co-CEO Hıristiyan Angermayer, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Director General Ingrid Deltenre, Austrian Central Bank Governor Claus Raidl, Botswana National Front President Duma Gideon Boko and MBA Uluslararası Kadınlar CEO Gail M. Romero were among the participants at the event.