A panel of international journalists, authors and media experts led a dialogue on the representation of religious and cultural "Others" at the first in a series of public events at the KAICIID Hall of Dialogue in Vienna, Austria. In a dialogue-based event, the panellists engaged with the audience to discuss a range of issues, challenges, ideas and solutions around this topic.

The panellists were drawn from a range of countries, cultures and religions. Moderator Claus Reitan is an author and columnist, and former chief editor of noted Austrian news magazine, Die Furche. Anat Saragusti, current director of B'Tselem USA, a journalist, feminist and human rights activist, is an expert on how media affects society. The former CEO of AGENDA, an NGO established to change the way the media cover key issues, and, Anat brought to the panel her extensive knowledge of peacebuilding processes and conflict transformation. Fauzia Shaheen, head of the Women Media Center (WMC) in Karachi, Pakistan, spoke on the reporting of religion in South Asia, and her experience promoting creative ways in which the voices of Pakistani women may be reflected in the country’s policy-making.

Author and media expert Khaled Hroub is Professor of Middle Eastern studies at Northwestern University in Qatar. As a senior research fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, where he is the director of the Cambridge Arab Media Project (CAMP), he brought his experience working with Arab media, and bringing together academics and experts on the field.

Alan Rosenblatt is a digital/social media strategist, professor, thought leader and a Partner at Turner Strategies. Alan taught the first college course on digital politics (1995), created and built the Center for American Progress’s social media program (2007-13) and has trained 15,000+ people across the world in digital/social media strategy, including civil society leaders across the Arab world in 2009.