Ever since Victor Orbán has been in power in Hungary, the media has gradually been taken under the control of the government. In Reporters Without Borders’ ranking of press freedom, Hungary comes last in the EU. The weekly newspaper HVG remains one of the last independent newspapers and its editor-in-chief is a guest at the Journalismusfest. Large foundations have recently become involved in Eastern European countries in order to preserve the remaining media diversity and thus strengthen democracies. In 2021, the Dutch Plūrālis Foundation was founded with the aim of investing specifically in Eastern European media. The Austrian ERSTE Foundation is also invested in Plūrālis.

Following the Hamas massacre on October 7th 2023, war in Israel and Palestine has erupted once more and has also been dominating German speaking media. For the Palestinian and Israeli-Jewish diaspora the war is closer than just an image on the news: They are worried about relatives and friends and facing hostilities and a tense discourse themselves. Jewish Israelis and Palestinians sharing a panel has become an exception by now. Alena Jabarine and Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus will do just that. With Bascha Mika they will talk about their view on the conflict, being seen and being ignored, and the debate in the German-speaking world.