11/07/2026

Media and Decolonization: Rising Voices, Amplifying Narratives - July 11, 2026

On July 11, 2026, an international conference titled "Media and Decolonization: Rising Voices, Amplifying Narratives" was held in Baku, organized by the Baku Initiative Group. The mentioned conference was the first such platform organized in Azerbaijan with the participation of media representatives representing colonized territories. It was organized in an interactive format between journalists from those territories and local media representatives.

The conference was attended by heads of media organizations and media representatives representing former and current colonized territories, journalists, political commentators, representatives of diaspora organizations, media and communications experts, representatives of civil society institutions, researchers, diplomats, representatives of state institutions, and individuals representing local media.

The conference discussed the role of the media and the upcoming challenges in strengthening the voice of peoples and ethnic minorities subjected to neocolonial exploitation and living under colonial oppression in the international information space. At the event, special attention was paid to the coverage in international media of colonial truths that have been kept in the shadows for many years – economic exploitation of territories, plundering of natural resources, erasure of cultural identity, systemic discrimination, repressions against indigenous peoples, as well as the policy of deliberately changing the demographic composition of the local population at the expense of incoming populations in the example of Kanaky (New Caledonia) and Bonaire.

Within the framework of the conference, an exchange of views took place around overcoming the artificial information blockade created in colonized territories, applying advanced artificial intelligence tools in the fight against disinformation and Fake News – false information, creating an international coordination network between journalists and media organizations, and strengthening cooperation between international media organizations and local journalists.

In the discussions, the role of the media in decolonization processes, not only as a means of conveying information but also as an international pressure mechanism against those pursuing colonial policies, was especially emphasized. In this context, practical initiatives were discussed towards documenting colonial crimes, exposing colonial narratives, verifying the official information policy of colonial states through fact-based research, delivering the position of indigenous peoples to the international audience, monitoring human rights violations, keeping environmental justice issues, including the consequences created by the chlordecone pesticide in Guadeloupe and Martinique, constantly on the global agenda, promoting reparation demands, as well as forming international solidarity and cooperation networks among journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society institutions operating in Kanaky, Maohi, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, and other colonized territories.

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