News – M100 SANSSOUCI COLLOQUIUM

We mourn the loss of Hella Pick

5 April 2024. We mourn the loss of Hella Pick, who died yesterday, Thursday, in London, three weeks before her 97th birthday. Hella Pick was an extraordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life.
Hella was with the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium from the beginning as a loyal companion and important source of inspiration. At the time, she was a very close associate and confidante of M100 co-founder Lord Weidenfeld, and was responsible for his “Club of Three” debate format, among other things. She had previously spent 30 years as a foreign affairs journalist for the Guardian and was regarded as THE grand dame of political journalism. She was a pioneer who entered the male-dominated world of foreign affairs journalism in the 1950s. She travelled the world, met presidents such as John F Kennedy, interviewed ministers and kings and was a regular guest at Werner Höfer’s Press Club for many years, the only woman, of course.
read more We mourn the loss of Hella Pick

Elevate Scholarship for Olga Konsevych

2 April 2024. M100 alumna Olga Konsevych, a Ukrainian journalist and media manager, is the honored recipient of a 2024 Elevate Scholarship from the Google News Initiative and INMA for her advocacy of diversity and inclusion in the news media industry (more information here). Olga left her home country after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which violated international law, and has since worked as a journalist in Germany, including for the Tagesspiegel. She also takes part in various EU and US projects focussing on investigative journalism.
Additionally, Olga Konsevych is in the process of implementing the “Why Ukraine” project, which aims to combat disinformation about Ukraine and democracy worldwide by providing verified experts with a platform to communicate with an international audience.
read more Elevate Scholarship for Olga Konsevych

Anna Romandash wins call for literary research project

28 March 2024. Congratulations to Ukrainian journalist and M100 alumna Anna Romandash, who has won the Stories of Resilience literary research project organised by English and Ukrainian PEN. She applied with her collection of reportages “Women of Ukraine: Reportages from the War and Beyond“, which was published by ibidem Verlag in late 2023. A total of 41 applications were received to take part in the project. The entries were judged by a panel that included writers Oksana Lutsyshina and Alexander Mikhed, as well as members of the English and Ukrainian Pen Admin teams.

Targets and effects of anti-Western propaganda in Georgia

25 March 2024. Tamar Kintsurashvili, Executive Director of the Media Development Foundation in Tbilisi and a participant in the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium 2023 (photo), has published a new report on anti-Western propaganda in Georgia.
The report, which covers the period from January to December 2022 and is based on the analysis of up to 10,000 comments, shows that the majority of propaganda messages were directed against the collective West and the US, followed by the EU and NATO. Other targets included Ukraine, democratic institutions such as NGOs, the ombudsman and the media, and liberal ideas in general. “Russia was the only subject that was presented positively in the given discourse,” the report said.
read more Targets and effects of anti-Western propaganda in Georgia

Dimitrios Theologidis wins “Jour-You” Award

22 March 2024. Congratulations to Dimitrios Theologidis, participant of the M100YEJ 2023 from Greece, who together with his colleague Marina Hadjikyriacou from Cyprus won the “Jour-You” award of the international citizen journalism competition for young people organised by EKO Greece. With their article “Divided Cyprus in a united Europe”, (original Greek version) they drew attention to the Cyprus conflict in the context of peace journalism and prevailed against eight Greek competitors. In their text, Dimitrios and Marina show the contrast between the EU and its divided member states, whose problems are ignored.
read more Dimitrios Theologidis wins “Jour-You” Award

Grand Decoration of Honour for Dr Christian Rainer

20 March 2024. M100 Advisory Board member Dr Christian Rainer, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Austrian political magazine “profil” from 1998 until March 2023, has been awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria for his many years of commitment to the media industry. The 62-year-old was also publisher and editor-in-chief of the Austrian business magazine “trend” from 1997 to 2008 and has written more than 1,000 editorials. Media Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) presented Rainer with the Medal of Honour on 18 March at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna. Our warmest congratulations!

Stephan Scherzer new member of the M100 Advisory Board

13 March 2024. We are delighted to welcome Stephan Scherzer as a new member of the M100 Advisory Board!
Since 2012, Stephan Scherzer has been CEO of the MVFP (former VDZ), the umbrella trade organization representing the interests of 350 German Magazine Media Publishers.
Between 2007-2011 he worked for IDG in San Francisco as Executive Vice President, running the digital business of the consumer group. He started his career as journalist, was editor-in-chief of Macworld Magazine, later Group Publisher and member of the board of IDG in Germany. He is the Vice President of the European Magazine Media Association, has a seat at FIPP steering committee and is a member of the Executive Board of “Stiftung Lesen” – German Literacy Foundation.
As a graduate of Ludwig Maximilians University Munich he holds an M.A. degree in Political Science, History, Economics. He loves Mountaineering and lives with his family in Berlin.

War is one of the most horrible things that you can possibly adapt to

By Olena Kuk

What had changed since the full-scale Russian war began? To answer that question, I want to show you one of the almost regular mornings in Kyiv nowadays:

February 7th, 2024

5:55 AM – Air Alarm.
6:57 AM – Explosion in the distance. That sound woke me up because the warning alarm before didn’t. I took my phone to check the monitoring telegram channels to understand – what was that?
“Cruise missiles are flying toward Kyiv”, – the message from Air Defence I overslept.
“The air defense is working in Kyiv”, – current statement.
“Rockets heading west”, – next information.
7:05 AM – I put down my phone, turned on the other side, and went back to sleep. The day before I had to work until 00:00, came home, and went to bed at 2:00 am. Because of the exhaustion, I couldn’t even hear the air alarm and decided to risk and continue sleeping.
7:40 AM – Loud explosion sound. My windows shook. One more strong explosion.
7:41 AM – I took my blanket and went to the hall to hide behind two walls. You cannot ignore such a powerful strike.

Russian propaganda is a crucial human rights violation

By Anastasiia Ivantsova

Russia is not only a threat to Ukrainians. Russia is also a threat to you. And this threat is slower and more insidious, because their war is already going on in your minds.

I am writing a part of this text from bombshelter. Today, the threat comes from cruise missiles launched by Tu-95 strategic bombers. They are fast and heavy, but thanks to Western weapons from our partners, they we can shot them down. Nevertheless, we are hiding in the underground parking lot of our own apartment building at 5 a.m., because even the fragments of a missile can cause a lot of damage. Ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles and Iranian kamikaze-drones are also flying towards our peaceful cities. And as a civilian Ukrainian woman living a few hundred kilometers from the front line, I feel only a small part of the war. But it is here nonetheless. I can take pictures of its consequences and show them to you, I can describe it to you.
But disinformation is more difficult.

This war had implications for us all

By Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws KC

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was and is a criminal act under international law. Despite Russia’s purported claims that Ukrainian territory is a historic and integral part of Russia, Ukraine remains a sovereign nation, and Russia’s invasion constitutes a Crime of Aggression.

Since the beginning of the invasion, the Russian state has committed numerous war crimes and atrocities. The Russian military has carried out a sustained campaign of targeting civilians and other non-military targets, ranging from schools and hospitals to crucial infrastructure. Notable among these was the attack on the Kakhovka Dam, which was destroyed on June 6th, 2023, unleashing a flood which led to the wholesale devastation of the affected area. Additionally, the shelling of the Zaporizhian nuclear power plant and the consequential disruption of its operation could have, if not unchecked, resulted in a nuclear disaster. Russia has also engaged in the repeated and continuous use of chemical weapons against Ukraine in clear violation of the Geneva Convention.