MEDIA KEY FACTOR OF EVERY SOCIETY; MOST IMPORTANT TASK - THE PRESERVATION OF SERBIAN LANGUAGE, ALPHABET AND TRADITION

BUDAPEST, DECEMBER 13 /SRNA/ - A two-day international media round table entitled "Serbian word outside the motherland - challenges and perspectives" was held in Budapest, organised by the V-Media Association, and under the auspices of the Gabor Bethlen Foundation - Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary.

The meeting was opened by the Ambassador of BiH to Hungary, Biljana Gutić Bjelica, who emphasized that the topic of the first International Media Round Table dedicated to Serb and minority media is contemporary, current in importance, layered and demanding. "The private, political, cultural, social and scientific life of an individual, community, state, region and the world is unimaginable without knowledge and information about current events that shape our present, but also to a large extent our future," said Gutić Bjelica. She pointed out that the media, in addition to being informative, also has an educational character in terms of preserving the spoken and written Serbian language, which, in addition to the Orthodox faith, forms the basis of the identity of Serbs. "It is not surprising that Serbs from Hungary are involved in this important initiative, which we hope will grow into an annual professional event of a long duration. The centuries-old live presence of Serbs in Hungary is a phenomenon worthy of research from every possible aspect, including the media aspect that will be covered in the sessions of this round table," emphasized Gutić Bjelica, who declared the meeting open, wishing the participants success in their work. The envoy of His Eminence Bishop Lukijan of Buda, Deacon Stefan Milisavić emphasized that one of the important roles of the media is the preservation of the identity, tradition and unity of Serbs. "The media are the ones who should work to preserve the Serbian language, alphabet and traditions, which is one of the important roles of the Serb media, wherever they are," said Deacon Stefan, stressing that the media is an important pillar and key factor of every society. Acting Director of the Republika Srpska News Agency-SRNA Tatjana Parađina pointed out that SRNA was formed on April 7, 1992, shortly after the beginning of the war in BiH, as the first Serb media in the territory of Republika Srpska. "Very quickly it became and remains a pillar of information since the localn media, as well as umerous media in the region and the world rely on our reporting", stressed Parađina adding that SRNA has 12 information services that follow events in Srpska, FBiH, Serbia, Montenegro, the region and the world, as well as a service in English. In addition, two years ago, our portal in English language Srpska National started operating, which has a record number of readers. Although a young portal, it quickly attracted the attention of readers, which is confirmed by the data of views and the most read texts. It's an interesting fact that our portal is read the most in the USA, England and Germany," stressed Parađina in her speech at the round table, presenting the importance of SRNA, the first news agency in BiH. She reminded that SRNA started recording podcasts in its studio two years ago, broadcasting it every Saturday on its YouTube channel, including coverage once a month, on the last Sunday of the month, and announced that SRNA would strive to justify the public's trust it enjoys, which is very difficult to gain, but also very quickly to lose. She also offered SRNA’s cooperation with all Serb media in Serbia and outside the homeland. Participants in the round table also included representatives of Radio Television of Vojvodina, the daily newspaper Politika, and the weekly Naša reč from Timișoara. The participants were also addressed by former ambassador Rade Drobac, the director of the Serb Institute in Budapest, Pera Lastić, and the editor-in-chief of RTV Varoš from Budapest, Dijana Đurić. Last night, on the first day of the gathering, participants attended the promotion of the book Serbs in the Windstorm by Serb diplomat Drobac, in which he compiled texts covering the most important topics for the Serb people and the state over the past 35 years. Diplomat Drobac said that Serbs have a long history they should adhere to and that they must resist all forms of imposition.