{"id":6598,"date":"2026-11-02T05:53:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T05:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/?p=6598"},"modified":"2026-11-02T05:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T05:55:21","slug":"russia-africa-media-forum-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/?p=6598","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2013Africa Media Forum Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Third Russia\u2013Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, held from October 24 to October 30, 2026 concluded following a series of high-level plenary sessions, strategic panel discussions, and landmark international agreements. The prestigious event reached its centerpiece on October 28, 2026, during the forum\u2019s plenary session, which featured a remarkable opening address delivered by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The overarching gathering was officially launched on October 25, 2026, with the Russia\u2013Africa Media Forum. Among the distinguished international guests officially invited by Russia\u2019s Sputnik Information Agency was Dr. Sayeh Kassaw Agegnehu, president of Debre Markos University (Ethiopia). During the media forum, Dr. Sayeh served as a featured panelist in a high-profile roundtable discussion titled <em>&#8220;Training a new generation of media professionals: The experience of Russia and Africa.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The roundtable convened five prominent institutional leaders to share insights on the evolving media landscape:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Dr. Sayeh Kassaw Agegnehu<\/strong>, President, Debre Markos University (Ethiopia)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma<\/strong>, Chancellor, University of Limpopo (South Africa)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Idrissa Ousseini<\/strong>, Director General, Higher School of Journalism and Communication (Niger)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Prof. Abdullahi Ibrahim Musa<\/strong>, Vice Chancellor, Kaduna State University (Nigeria)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Dr. Hassan Mohammed Khannenje<\/strong>, Director, HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies (Kenya)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"708\" height=\"151\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pic4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6602\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pic4.jpg 708w, https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pic4-300x64.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Addressing the panel, Dr. Sayeh highlighted the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in modern media and communication. He described AI as a supportive tool designed to assist daily operations, emphasizing its necessity in digital journalism for creative content production as well as the efficient distribution of audio and video news. However, Dr. Sayeh counselled to being accountable for irresponsible usage, advising that unchecked AI deployment can accelerate the spread of fake news, leading to severe societal misdirection. He urged that AI integration by media professionals must adhere strictly to standards of responsibility and accountability.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Turning to the overall competence of media professionals in Africa, Dr. Sayeh observed that African journalists frequently operate within highly complex political, social, and economic environments. Consequently, he advocated for comprehensive training frameworks that integrate cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning tailored to specific local contexts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Dr. Sayeh emphasized that journalists must build the capacity to serve as a voice for the voiceless and hold power accountable safely and ethically. Key core competencies highlighted include developing essential skills to counter the rapid spread of fake news across social media platforms and distribute verified information, mastering data analysis and interpretation to enhance research and investigative projects, acquiring foundational business and technological skills and moving beyond traditional print skills toward modern multimedia production utilizing digital tools like AI.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Concluding his remarks, Dr. Sayeh stressed that upgrading professional media competencies across the continent requires active collaboration and strategic partnerships with global media organizations. Furthermore, expressing gratitude to the Sputnik Information Agency for their interest in cooperating with Debre Markos University, Dr. Sayeh outlined major areas for upcoming joint efforts. These are <strong>Capacity<\/strong><strong> Building<\/strong> in which launching academic programs (Master\u2019s and PhD levels) alongside tailor-made training initiatives in AI literacy, data journalism, fact-checking, multimedia production, and responsible digital platform use; and <strong>Equipment and Infrastructure Support <\/strong>that aims to equipping and furnishing a pilot multimedia studio and establishing a dedicated AI Center for Media Professionals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Following the roundtable proceedings, Debre Markos University officially formalized its partnership with Sputnik Information Agency by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Dr. Sayeh Kassaw Agegnehu on behalf of Debre Markos University and Vasily Pushkov on behalf of Sputnik Information Agency signed the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"709\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6603\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image5.jpg 709w, https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image5-300x76.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Third Russia\u2013Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, held from October 24 to October 30, 2026 concluded following a series of high-level plenary sessions, strategic panel discussions, and landmark international agreements. The prestigious event reached its centerpiece on October 28, 2026, during the forum\u2019s plenary session, which featured a remarkable opening address delivered by the President [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6598"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6605,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598\/revisions\/6605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmu.edu.et\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}