'Incorruptible and fact-based reporting'

“With the increasing abundance of information available online, we, as a global community, need to hold a debate about those values and orientations that dictate our ways of thinking, speaking and how we go about dealing with each other.” Those were the words that Germany's President Joachim Gauck spoke in a video message on Monday, June 13, 2016, greeting the 2,000 attendees at the Global Media Forum of the Deutsche Welle in Bonn. The three-day long conference held at the World Conference Center centers on the theme of “Media. Freedom. Values.”

Gauck went on to say: “Never before have we had so many possibilities for acquiring information as we have today. But we see at the same time the increasing possibilities for manipulation and disinformation – and that this is being used scrupulously by some. For this reason it is so necessary to enshrine the media whose hallmark is one of reliable journalism, one which you can continue to trust. One which is incorruptible, which continues to remain fact-based. A medium whose reporting is serious.”

Deutsche Welle was praised by Gauck for its role as a medium “in the midst of all of the crises and conflicts occurring today and has remained a reliable medium that enjoys trust the world over.”

The former plenary hall of the German Parliament provides the backdrop for the Global Media Forum, offering an “atmosphere of openness and transparency;” Deutsche Welle, host of the conference, maintains an “inspiring culture of debate.”

Gauck implored the participants from over 100 different countries to “shape your own opinions and to unabashedly advocate for them.”