CEDAR | European Muslim Professionals Network

CEDAR played a key role in last year's fifth annual M100 Sanssouci Colloquium entitled ‘Muslim Media and Muslims in the Media’ held at the renowned Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam on 14 and 15 September, 2009. Drawing on CEDAR’s media experts and professionals and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue's (ISD) networks and expertise in the policy, media and civil society arenas, the Colloquium brought together Europe's most prominent journalists and editors in mainstream and Muslim media to address the impact of Muslim produced and targeted media, and the representations of Muslims in European media.

The some 70 participants at the event represented a wide range of media, mainstream and minority, and some of the leading voices on the issue in Europe today. Their often lively and intensive discussions focussed on the portrayal of Muslims in Western mainstream media, the effects of foreign and domestic Muslim media in Europe and the role that media play in the context of integration dynamics and social cohesion. Speakers and panellists included Octavia Nasr (CNN), Flemming Rose (Jyllands-Posten), Professor Tariq Ramadan, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (The Independent) and Matthias Mattusek (Der Spiegel) among others.

Opening the two day ‘Media Davos’, a CEDAR media workshop investigated the position of Muslims and minorities within mainstream media institutions and compared best practice in media diversity policy and practice. This high profile event also saw the launch of two of CEDAR's main products for 2009 and 2010, CEDAR’s European Muslim Women of Influence List (EMWI), an initiative aimed at celebrating the unique successes of Muslim Women across Europe; and CEDAR’s Expert Finder, a databank of experts and leaders, aimed at providing the media and public forums with a pool of diversified Muslim voices able to speak on a wide range of subjects.

A pilot research project, led by the Institute and funded by the Vodafone Foundation Germany, investigated Muslim media usage and its drivers as well as Muslim representation in mainstream media. Presented at the first working session by one of the co-authors, Farzana Hakim and BBC Arts Correspondent Razia Iqbal, it served as a basis for discussion throughout the event.  Members from across Europe with careers in media lead a workshop exploring diversity practices and contributed to the M100 working sessions.

For the agenda
To download the Research Report
To view interviews with M100 participants
For further details on the event, please visit the M100 website