Arta for Media and Development is a civil society organisation, not just a media outlet (Arta FM), and one of the core aims and values of the organisation is to promote a culture of plurality and tolerance among the various ethnic and religious communities of the region, in the face of rising fundamentalism and extremism.
In 2016, ARTA FM organised a series of meetings and discussions with local journalists and media outlets in the Jazeera region to coordinate their efforts to counter extremism and hate speech in the media. A media charter for al-Jazeera was agreed at the end of the meetings and signed by tens of local media outlets. No further meetings were held but the document now serves as a compass for new local media, similar to the Ethical Charter for Syrian Media, on which Arta was also a signatory.
Throughout 2018-20, Arta organised monthly “community forums” in different towns and cities across NE Syria. The forums brought together community representatives from different backgrounds, including politicians, human rights and civil society activists. They openly debated community relations and peaceful coexistence.
In 2018 and 2019, Arta collaborated with a local CSO called GAV on producing a series of high-quality video reports and features about different types of IDP's in north-east Syria, and an offline and online campaign about hate speech and fake news. Both projects were supported by FPU’s Co-production Fund.
Arta FM has also actively sought to collaborate with other organisations and media outlets. For instance, in 2016-18, Arta FM and Enab Baladi jointly produced a series of in-depth reports on Kurdish-Arab relations. Arta FM and Hara FM collaborated in 2017 and 2018 to produce joint radio broadcasts focusing on inter-communal relations and countering extremism and sectarianism across north Syria. The name of the project was "Dialogue of the North".
More recently, Arta FM, Rozana and Enab Baladi developed and started implementing a new joint, innovative project that will produce engaging podcasts aimed at enhancing dialogue and community cohesion among Syrians. The project is supported by FPU’s “Innovation Fund”.
