On December 10, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended a European and Asian media forum organized by RIA Novosti that brought together more than 150 top media managers
On December 10, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended a European and Asian media forum organized by RIA Novosti that brought together more than 150 top media managers.
Medvedev urged the maintenance of a permanent unbiased dialogue between European and Asian media outlets.
"Hearing each other better, understanding each other better and absorbing the information being created in our countries better, without any blinkers or ideological bias is a very good goal," the president said.
He also pledged that Russia would switch to digital broadcasting by 2015.
"Huge funds - federal and commercial - have been set aside for that," Medvedev said. He also said it would be good to synchronize the process with the CIS.
The president said freedom of speech was a 'sensitive issue' that required journalistic responsibility and competence.
"A journalist's major duty is to tell the truth - how you do it depends on you," the president told participants in the forum.
He also spoke about blogs and described them as a good form of communication between officials and the population.
