11 September 2023. In three days, on Thursday, 14 September, the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium will begin! Under the title “Between Ambition and Disarray – The Future of Democracy” around 70 international editors-in-chief, academics and representatives from politics and civil society will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, reasons for global democracy fatigue and the future of journalistic media in times of rapid technological progress and disinformation.
The opening speech will be delivered by Indian essayist and writer Pankaj Mishra, who became internationally known in 1995 with his non-fiction book “Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India”, will be streamed live here from 10:00am (CET).
The conference will conclude in the evening with the presentation of the prestigious M100 Media Award to the Women, Life, Freedom Movement of Iran. The award honours the courageous women and girls, but also men, who are protesting against oppression and for freedom and human rights in their home country.
Iranian women’s rights activist Shima Babaei, who has been living in exile in Belgium since 2020, will receive the prize on behalf of the movement.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will deliver the laudatory speech.
The German-Iranian actress and musician Jasmin Tabatabai, the journalist and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal and the Iranian women’s rights activist Mersedeh Shahinkar will make a strong political statement on stage.
The award ceremony will be hosted by TV presenter Pinar Atalay. The ceremony will be streamed live from 6:00pm (CET).
The M100 Media Award has been presented at the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium since 2005. Previous laureates include Lord Norman Foster, Bernard Kouchner, Bob Geldof, Ingrid Betancourt, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Kurt Westergaard, Vitali Klitschko, Charlie Hebdo, Roberto Saviano, Natalia Sindeeva, Nicola Sturgeon, Alexei Navalny and the people of Ukraine.
