September 14, 2020 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan – From September 14 to 19, 2020 over 500 media specialists from countries across Central Asia are participating in the second annual Central Asian Media Festival (MediaCAMP Fest) hosted by the USAID-funded Central Asia Media Program. The online media festival includes trainings, lectures, film screenings, facilitation sessions, discussions, and talk shows.

MediaCAMP Fest is a professional platform for journalists from Central Asia, enabling them to share their experiences and ideas with each other, and discuss the most pressing issues and challenges for the media in the region.

The media festival starts today with a day-long marathon: over eight hours journalists, editors, and media managers are discussing the work of media in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Central Asia. On September 15 and 16, there will be master classes on a range of topics, including journalism on YouTube, how journalists can develop their own brand, how journalists can prevent burnout, how to present scientific advances in an engaging way, among others topics, as well as an online Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest – an independent non-fiction films festival, chaired by the famous Russian director and producer, Vitaly Mansky. On September 17, there will be two talk shows, in Kazakh and Tajik, on ethics in journalism in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan respectively. The festival will end on September 19 with an award ceremony for the winners of the MediaCAMP Award journalism contest.

The journalism contest received 314 applications and 59 finalists have been selected in four categories: Power and Society; Generation Without Borders – Time of Opportunities; Time to Help; and Heroes Among Us. During the festival, a regional jury will select the winners. The winners in the fifth, special category, The Lens, will be selected through online voting on the festival’s website.

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The Central Asia Media Program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Internews. It aims to develop a more balanced information environment in Central Asia to increase openness among young people and adults to various ideas, opinions, and perspectives, and in turn increase their engagement in civic participation. USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience.

For more information please visit: USAID in Central Asia: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional, Central Asia Media Program: https://ru.internews.kz/mediacamp/, Internews global: https://internews.org/about-us, Internews in Kazakhstan: https://internews.kz/.