Audiovisual media & societies: memorable achievements and future challenges
The 33rd COPEAM Annual Conference was held in Tunis on 8 May 2026 at the Hotel Africa El Mouradi, hosted by Télévision Tunisienne.
Each year, the COPEAM Conference brings together, in a different country of the Mediterranean region, high-level representatives from the media and cultural sectors, as well as from local and international institutions, to debate a topic of regional interest.
In 2026 — a year coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the public television in Tunisia and the 30th anniversary of COPEAM — this event was dedicated to the historical contribution of audiovisual media to the development of Mediterranean societies, as well as to the challenges ahead, under the chosen theme: “Media and societies: memorable achievements and future challenges”.
Opening Ceremony
The event, attended by 120 participants from across the Mediterranean region, was opened by the welcome speeches from Chokri Ben Nessir, CEO and Director General of Tunisian Television, and Claudio Cappon, Secretary General of COPEAM.
Mr Cappon emphasized the crucial importance of media in informing citizens, as well as the technological challenges they face in a world marked by pervasive and constantly evolving innovations. Public audiovisual media have the duty to renew themselves and adapt in order to continue fulfilling their public service mission.
For his part, Mr Ben Nessir warmly welcome all the attendees in Tunisia and highlighted the power of media as important pillars of communication for the preservation of society. “Media have the power to ease tensions, promote dialogue and cooperation,” he stressed.
Keynote Speech
Sadok Hammami – Director of IPSI, Institute of Press and Information Sciences, University of Manouba – Tunisia
In his extensive keynote address, Mr Hammami highlighted the essential role of audiovisual media in the development of Mediterranean societies, highlighting in particular the need for democratic regulation, self-regulation of journalistic work, and strengthened dialogue with audiences, especially younger generations born in the digital era.
The professor also emphasized the challenges related to artificial intelligence, both as an opportunity for development in production and audience interaction, and as a major issue for protecting content and preserving the democratic missions of audiovisual media.
Panel
The main panel was moderated by three experts from the Mediterranean region: Aurélie Aubert, Professor of Information and Communication Sciences at Sorbonne Nouvelle University (France); Firas Al-Atraqchi, journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Cairo Review of Global Affairs (Egypt), the quarterly journal of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP); and Lobna Najjar, Project Coordinator at the Arab Women Center for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and national coordinator for the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) in Tunisia.
The round table was moderated by Amel Chahed, journalist and producer at Télévision Tunisienne.
Based on her research on the platformization of information, Aurélie Aubert placed media history in perspective with contemporary transformations. She questioned the current role of media in our societies and the changes they must undergo in order to remain attractive and continue to be considered a reliable reference in an increasingly saturated information ecosystem. The researcher also discussed historical achievements and how social networks and artificial intelligence are reshaping the media landscape.
The professor and journalist Firas Al-Atraqchi addressed the important issue of misinformation and the urgent need for more effective media literacy education. This need applies to audiences — particularly younger generations for whom influencers and TikTok often become sources of information — but also to media professionals themselves.
As Tunisia’s national coordinator of the largest and longest-running study on gender representation in global media, Lobna Najjar shared her expertise on the representation of women in the media, focusing on a Tunisian case study. After presenting the mission and methodology of the project, she revealed insufficient results: although over thirty years overall female representation has increased from 17% to 26%, women’s representation remains largely confined to social or cultural topics. Women are still widely underrepresented in economic or scientific coverage. They are more often presented as witnesses (34%) than as experts and authority figures (23%). The presentation concluded with recommendations on strategies to be implemented within media organizations to address these challenges.
At the end of the panel, a rich Q&A session led to a dynamic debate with the audience.
COPEAM members’ showcase
Some members of COPEAM network delivered presentations aligned with the overall theme of the event, combining historical perspectives with contemporary outlooks:
- Antonella Di Lazzaro from RAI focused on the 100th anniversary of “Rai Pubblicità”, the official advertising company of the Italian public broadcaster. Her presentation, rich in video content, highlighted the impact of audiovisual advertising on social customs and lifestyles, particularly in Italy.
- Dan Santa from Radio Romania emphasized the contribution of the Romanian public radio, founded in 1928, to the representation of the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity, with programming in 15 languages across 7 radio stations. He particularly focused on traditional music content and the representation of rural communities.
- Lobna Ben Manaa from Télévision Tunisienne, for the 60th anniversary of the national TV, highlighted the specificity of television as a reflection of the evolution of Tunisian society. Using archival footage, the team produced a video montage narrating the country’s social, technological, political, and economic transformations since the launch of Télévision Tunisienne 1 on 31 May 1966.
COPEAM Prizes’ Winners
Through a promotional video, the winners of the COPEAM awards for the past year were presented, including:
À Première Vue Award:
- La Conspiration des Tortues by Kamir Abbas-Terki (LabDZ, Algeria) – TV5Monde Grand Prize
- Shattered Memory by Hayat Laban (Dar Al Kalima University, Palestine) – Rai Cinema Award
- Toilet Paper by Rami Serhal (ALBA, Lebanon) – ANICA Academy / Uninettuno University Award
- Carré Bleu by Charlélie Chasteau (ESAVM, Morocco) – Special Mention (for original language between cinema and visual art)
- Shattered Memory by Hayat Laban (Dar Al Kalima University, Palestine) – FID/Mucem Youth Prize
PLURAL+ Prize:
“Global South” Special Prize within the Prix Italia:
- Free at Last – Unresolved Stories of Apartheid by South African Broadcasting Corporation (South Africa)
- Beyond the Sea by PBC (Palestine) – Special Mention
- The Snowman Race in Bhutan by BBS (Bhutan) – Special Mention
COPEAM/ASBU Inter-Rives #10 “The Power of Art: Creativity for Change”:
- Dancing Free by Clara Blasquez Vizeute, RTVE (Spain)
- Life Mask by Fedia Ben Henda, Télévision Tunisienne (Tunisia)
Joint Meeting of COPEAM Commissions
COPEAM thematic commissions aim to bring professionals together around specific topics and projects, promoting networking, synergies, and exchanges.
COPEAM staff and the Presidents of the Commissions present in Tunis provided an overview of the Association’s activities and projects over the past year, as well as future opportunities. Among the topics discussed:
- Radio Commission
- Gender Equality and Diversity Commission
- Training Commission
- Cinema, Festival and Culture Commission
- Television Commission
• Development of the magazines Kantara and Mediterradio
• Accomplished radio coproductions: “Arab philosophers, ancient and contemporary” and “Mediterranean monuments between sky and sea”
• Pilot project “Artificial intelligence for multilingual radio broadcasting” developed within the World Radio Day 2026 with the support of UNESCO
• New projects
• Who Gets to Speak in the News? COPEAM and the GMMP 2025 findings
• Gender Etiquette #2: 2nd edition of the corporate training programme by COPEAM for RAI
• COPEAM diversity toolkit for journalists presented at the 10th Diversity Media Awards’ launch event
• RAI/COPEAM training “Public Service Media programming and content production strategies for kids and youth audiences” - Rome, May 2025
• TRT/COPEAM training “Sports journalism: from broadcast to digital” - Ankara, January 2026
• RAI/COPEAM training “Communicating technological and scientific innovation: content production strategies for PSM” - Rome, April 2026
• “A Première Vue” Prize 2025
• Developments of the 2026 edition
• Inter-Rives 10 coproduction “The Power of Art: Creativity for Change”: awarded films
• Launch of Inter-Rives 11: “Shared roots, living connections”
• “Global South Award” at Rai’s Prix Italia 2025: assessment and awarded films
32nd COPEAM General Assembly
The Annual Conference concluded with the 32nd General Assembly of the Association, open exclusively to the members. Following the elections - held during the GA - for the partial renewal of the COPEAM Steering Committee, the latter is composed of the following members:
- BNT – Bulgaria
- EPTV – Algeria
- HRT – Croatia
- MySat – Lebanon
- France Médias Monde – France
- France Télévisions – France
- Jordan Media City – Jordan
- PBC – Palestine
- Radio France – France
- Radio Romania – Romania
- RAI – Italy
- RTSH – Albania
- RTVE – Spain;
- Tunisian Television – Tunisia
- TRT – Türkiye
In Tunis, the COPEAM Presidency was entrusted, for a second term, to MySat/Lebanon:
- Mr Karim Abdallah - President
The vice-presidencies will be held by:
- TRT
- Télévision Tunisienne
- Radio France
- Radio Romania
Following the elections for the renewal of the Presidencies of COPEAM thematic Commissions, those positions have been entrusted to:
- CINEMA/FESTIVAL/CULTURE: Zina Berrahal – TV5 Monde
- GENDER EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY: Monia Azzalini – Osservatorio di Pavia
- RADIO: Frank Lidon – Radio France
- TRAINING: Selin Burcu – TRT
- TELEVISION: Markus Nikel – RAI
Special radio recording of Kantara and Mediterradio
Special events
Backstage
