Representatives from 16 international broadcasters and EBU Members and Associates have participated in the annual meeting of the International Broadcasting Assembly (IBA) in Dubrovnik, Croatia, this May.

"The fundamental element of the development of Dubrovnik was in the past, and is still nowadays, the spirit of freedom (libertas). This is also what Croatia – the EU's youngest member state and Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) highly value," said HRT Director General Kazimir Bacic, welcoming the delegates to the two-day conference.

"In view of the deterioration in media freedom in Europe and around the world, public service international broadcasters bear a special responsibility in providing free and fact-based content to a global audience, defending democratic values and promoting peace and development," said Klaus Bergmann, chairman of the EBU IBA in his opening address.

"Public Service Media in Europe faces dramatic challenges – from digital transformation, from new political movements and from reductions in public funding in various countries,” said EBU Director General Noel Curran in his keynote speech, stressing that “nevertheless, there are also opportunities for quality, independent public service media organizations at a time when those values are needed more than ever.”

Referring to the IBA as one of the professional platforms of the EBU, which brings Members together for dialogue, exchanges and collaboration, Curran said, “It is only through joint approaches that we can leverage the unique contribution EBU Members make to European culture and society."

During this year's IBA, Klaus Bergmann (Deutsche Welle), was re-elected as the chairman of the Assembly. He will be supported by a newly elected 8-member Executive Committee: Kazimir Bacic (HRT), Zlatan Begovic (RTS), Nathalie Bobineau (FTV), Mariola Czarnecka (TVP), Paulo Jorge Veiez Santos (RTP), John Maguire (FMM), Simona Martorelli (RAI) and Maria Jesus Perez Gomez (RTVE).

The delegates took the opportunity, not only to share current industry information but also to showcase innovative projects of the broadcasters, among other things, EBU's Position Paper on "Fake News" and the Information Disorder; Truly.Media - a collaborative platform for verification of digital content; the eParticipatory Observers Project on climate change; as well as the EU-funded youth project "Generation What Arabic."

In order to better protect journalists on their mission and share up-to-date information on crisis regions, the IBA also agreed to create a special workspace of journalists' safety for Members.