CHIANG MAI, Thailand – Some 225 participants, the bulk of them journalists from Mekong countries, are set to discuss, debate and take stock of their media environment against a backdrop of changing and often quite different news cultures at the Mekong Media Forum, which starts here Dec. 9.

The four-day media conference brings together a mix of participants, from print, television journalists and photojournalists to civil society, academics and developments, who will be discussing a menu of issues such as changes in the Mekong media scene, new trends, citizen journalism and new media, training, media challenges and reporting on water governance, children, as well as gender and sexuality.

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A variety of compelling stories will open your eyes to the realities, diversity and interconnectedness of the Mekong region via Cinema Mekong, a series of showings of documentaries at the Mekong Media Forum, to be held Dec 9-12, 2009 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Cinema Mekong features the work of documentary filmmakers and video journalists who have been part of the Imaging Our Mekong Media Fellowship since 2002 — making this unique series of films very much from the lens of local filmmakers — as well as other films that focus on the Mekong region. The works selected for the Forum screenings cover transboundary topics on environment, culture, children, women and cultural identity.

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