More similarities than differences page 2
The black sheep of mobility page 4
„Even if you are small, you can achieve a lot of things“ page 6
2 EDITORIAL Enlargement, presidency, mobility – hot topics were in the air in sultry Ljubljana. Almost thirty national winners of the European Young Journalists Award, mentors, jurors and our team of ten from European Youth Press (EYP) that was making this magazine for you during the various panel discussions and workshops. And please keep in mind that making a magazine for journalists in one day is not an easy task. Thank you for your input in our texts and you are more than welcome to help us at composing the next Orange magazine! I will keep my fingers crossed that all of you return home with not only nice memories from your Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana trip, but also with an awareness of EYP‘s existence and the opportunities we are trying to offer you. And once again: congratulations with your winning texts and let‘s keep in touch! Anna Sulewska Editor-in-chief a.sulewska@youthpress.org
Participants explore Croatian magazine Vecernji list
More similarities than differences How a trip around the Balkans killed the prejudices of the winners by Lien De Leenheer
"I was trained to kill Turks. These few days made me into a changed man," says Greek Cypriot winner Andreas Polykarpou. For two years he was protecting, fully armed, the border dividing the Turkish from the Greek part of Cyprus. "All that time I wondered why I had to point my gun at the Turks. No one could give me the answer. Thank God I never had to shoot. Over here I have realised that we are no different from another. I can say from the bottom of my heart: I found a friend in Kaan, the Turkish winner." One cannot help to feel like a mom picking up her excited kid from boy scout camp, while talking to the winners. They made new friends, expanded their views and crossed some boundaries. All agree that sharing information on each other’s country was the most valuable asset of this trip. A nice bonus were the good hotels, the good food and the interesting debates in and outside the conference rooms. "During the trip I learned that sharing views and history helps us to be more
respectful of each other’s culture," continues Andreas Polykarpou. Belgian Annelien De Greef's opinions were also challenged by the trip. "Just like my peers I thought that all Eastern countries would do everything to be part of the EU. Strangely the Eurobarometer shows that only 30% of Croatians think they should join the EU and are quite apprehensive about it." The involvement of the media and the corruption within the industry made her doubt about Croatia being ready for the accession. Romanian Madalina-Daniela Mocanu was surprised by the hostile reactions the Romanian accession created in the ex-Yugoslav countries. "They believe it unfair we joined as we were not ready to join. But that is not important. Let’s focus on what the EU has brought to Romania. Thanks to European funding our society and environment is changing a lot. The current candidate countries also desperately need these funds to elevate their societies. Too many people in
the Balkans are frustrated about their living conditions, and that is simply not healthy." Kaan Kosemehmet, the Turkish winner, concurs: "It is slightly worrisome to see that so many people and especially the youngsters are still carrying a psychological burden from the past civil wars. A large part of them is not truly happy with their lives. I am convinced that an accession to the Union would give them new perspectives." When asked if Turkey should join, he is less straightforward: "I think that nor the EU nor Turkey is ready for a unity. The EU has too much problems dealing with the internal issues the enlargement is causing, and Turkey has to put in more effort when it comes to social and human rights. But than again without the status of candidate country we would never have been at the level we are now when it comes to those rights." To him the real European values are keeping one’s culture but investing in a fair world where social and human rights and equality are the corner stones. "We do
3
European Young Journalist Award · Final Conference 02 · 03 July 2008 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
not have to be a new United States of America, where everything is about money." The participants believe that there is a good future for the EU as young people these days are very open-minded to each other’s culture as they are able to travel all across Europe and beyond thanks to low-cost carriers. Lots of young people are also taking part in several
Youth projects in the EU bringing new insights and values back home with them. Danish Thomas Gam Nielsen, who lived in Macedonia for eight months working as a volunteer, has an inside view: "The Macedonians are really keen on joining because they are sure it will heighten their standards of living and decrease the level of unemployment and
poverty." He is also one of the few winners who actually travelled around the region prior to this trip: "Of course this trip is not representative of how these countries really are. I would have been happy to stay in a less expensive hotel and instead have a longer and more in-depth trip. But it can be like planting a seed that grows into real interest in the region."
The Romanian issue in the winning articles
I
talian and Bulgarian perspectives on Turkey. The French view on Kosovo. The Belgian look on Croatia. Dealing with the enlarge¬ment topic, many of the winning articles from the European Young Journalist Awards (EYJA) competition dis¬cuss the situation of the countries willing to join the European Union in the future. At the same time, there are articles reflecting the effects the most recent EU enlargements had on the older members of the Union. Two of them approach, from oppo¬site points of view, the impact the integration of Romania had on two Western European countries, namely Ireland and Germany. Patricia Mc Donagh, the Irish winner of the EYJA, tells a story many European have heard before about the Romanian people moving to Western countries in the pursuit of a better life. But, as Mc Donagh shows in her arti¬cle, for some Romanians this dream turns into a nightmare. “Romanians say they want to work, but the Irish government makes this really difficult, as people from Romania and Bulgaria are not allowed to work in our coun¬try without a working permission. They are trying to bag on the streets in order to get money. Many also rob people because they are put in the situation where they can’t work legally (NO: Because of this, they start begging or robbing people.) At the moment, the Irish government is looking how they can improve the status of the people coming from new member states, but they probably will not change it, because that would mean many more foreigners would enter the country and the economical recession in Ireland is really bad. Many
people already went back where they came from and I think their dream of Europe is going to be dashed”, Patricia Mc Donagh believes. She tells that the discussion she had with the Romanian winner, Madalina-Daniela Mocanu, changed her perceptions about the Roma¬nians. As Mc Donagh states, Irish people believe Romania is a really poor country, like Ireland used to be back in the fifties, just before joining the EU. “She is modern, just like me. There is a ridiculous perception about Romanians not having money to buy clothes, and this is reinforced by the image of those people who come to work in my country and finish up begging”, Patricia adds. The German winning article of the EYJA describes the opposite side of Romania’s EU-story. “Germans always think Romanians move to the richer countries from the European Union to make more money, and I just wanted to show the opposite. There are many opportunities for young Germans in the Eastern countries and mainly in Romania. Opportunities that you could not find in any other Western country, where the economical system is really esta¬blished and there is no more space for new initiatives”, Killian Kirchgessner, the German winner of the EYJA, says. He portrays the opportunities Romania offers by giving examples of an artist, a lawyer and two biologists - all German citizens - who found their place and career in the new EU member country. The story comes after the controversy created by the relocation of a Nokia plant from Germany to Romania. Kirchgessner says he actually got new insights to the issue when he talked to the Romanian
by Carmen Claudia Paun
winner. “I understood the Romanian per¬spective of this relocation, but I hope Romanians can also understand the German perspective of the issue, especially after meeting people from Germany. I got a view from the other side and I enjoyed that very much”, Killian Kirchgessner concluded. Madalina Daniela Mocanu herself is happy because other European jour¬nalists could have a positive approach on the consequences the Romanian integration had on the continent. At the same time, she is aware the bad aspects described in the Irish article are a reality: “The only thing one can say is that Romanians are not all like what the Irish imagine them to be like.” Annelien De Greef, Belgian winner, was wondering in her article “Can we imagine an EU without Spain nowa¬days, even though opposition was very strong in the eighties”. Maybe in 2028 we will be wondering the same about Romania and Bulgaria.
Photo by Matteo de Simone, youthphotos.eu
4
„Foreign journalists, now boarding“ How to conquer the fear of being the black sheep of the team In the life of more and more people there is a crucial moment in the airport: luggage in both hands, hope and excitement in their heart, just before heading off to different destinations, for a short or long journey. by Dora Haller
Photo by Mircea Marinescu
T
he omnipresent globalisation requires journalists to be more mobile and flexible, and let us be honest: we happily deliver. The question is: are we competitive enough to work at a newspaper, a television station or radio channel in another country moreover in a foreign language? In other words: is it really that easy to find a job in journalism abroad? Daniel Vernet, foreign editor of French newspaper 'Le Monde' has the impression that mobility for the journalists in Europe does not really exist, as the main tool of a journalist is his ability to use language to express and describe ideas. Only few can play with a foreign language the same way as they do in their mother tongue. But the language issues are not the only cause of this lack of mobility. “Not so long ago it was difficult to imagine a colored presenter on French TV. All the biggest TV channels want their presenters to represent the average viewer, which is basically a mix of people with different cultural backgrounds“, he says. “But someone with an accent still does not fit into the picture,” he adds. Just as Gregor Krajc, the Deputy Director of the Government Office for European Affaires, said on the opening panel of the EYJA-conference, young journalists have to be lucky. But how much luck do we exactly need if we decide to be mobile? We probably only have a slight chance to be as lucky as Nenad
Sebek. This Executive Director of the ‚Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in South-east Europe‘, was just in the right place at the right time and was asked by the BBC to cover the Yugoslavian civil wars for the BBC. But than again mister Sebek‘s second language is English. And didn‘t we all wish at least once in our life to be native English speakers? “I admit that language is a major issue. As a foreigner, a journalist has to be two or three times better then a native speaker, because on the language field we can never beat them. So we have to beat them at the journalistic field. Coloring articles with the elements of our original backgrounds, speaking in a different way, as “different” in journalism usually means better.“ We can only hope. But do the
editorial team. “For one and a half a year I learned about Dutch society as I lacked a cultural background of almost 22 years. And how could I know the interest of a national reader if I didn’t know the history, the culture and the society of a country? At the end I knew more about these topics than the average Dutchman.” Although she had to learn not to use Belgian expressions in Dutch sentences, in her case the integration was not a real problem. But the experiences differ from country to country, from society to society. “I believe that electronic media in general are not prepared to have people with an accent,” says Nenad Sebek. “But we can also refer to British media as an exception which accepts some accents, like for example the American, Scottish, Irish or the Canadian. They even think this last one sounds sexy. Countries that are more open to the cultural minorities are more opened to the foreign journalists as well. Somehow it is a reflection of society while in
“I don’t want to have a foreigner to tell me what s going on“ editorial doors really open up to a different style of writing and thinking? “I have difficulties to make a joke in the Netherlands. I just cannot be that IRONIC” says Leen Vervaeke, a Belgian participant of the award who works as a journalist at the Dutch national newspaper „Volks¬krant“. Fortunately, her different background is playing as an advan¬tage so far, moreover she is not the only foreigner in the
other countries – which I prefer not to name - the average viewer can say: 'I don’t want to have a foreigner to tell me what s going on". This reaction is a basic reflex of the human nature, a fear of the others, the fear of what we might not know”. As for the journalists: their fear is being the black sheep and not being at the same level as their competitors. But don't we all think that the black sheep is the most interesting of the herd?
5
European Young Journalist Award · Final Conference 02 · 03 July 2008 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Gisela Gauggel-Robinson
From idea to reality! How the European Commission sees the European Young Journalists Award by Björn Richter
S
ix months after launching the website of the award, filling it with articles from young journalists, advertising the award all over Europe to youth media makers and their networks and preparing the winners’ trip with their partners, Gisela Gauggel-Robinson, Head of the Communication Unit from the DG Enlargement, feels happy: „We started drafting the idea last summer and now the event finally took place. It was great to attend the winners’ trip and listen to the participants at the final conference. We need the comments of these
young journalists, because we are very often lacking such examples from everyday life.“ „The winners are only the tip of the iceberg. They were chosen out of 400 applications and got the opportunity to see a potential candidate country, one candidate country and a member country. I hope they used this opportunity to gather ideas for articles in their media and to network with the other winners.“, says Gauggel-Robinson. She urged the young winners to investigate and always look for all the layers of reality – especially in the future of Europe, which needs good
journalists to be shaped. And the European Commission plans to realise the award together with its partners again next year. This time around, they would like to dedicate it to the 20th anniversary of the „fall of the iron curtain“ and the fifth anniversary of the EU enlargement to ten new member countries. Gauggel-Robinson therefore welcomes ideas to improve the award from all participants and the coordinators involved, but also from experienced journalists for the second edition of the „European Young Journalist Award“.
6
Not sexy, but necessary The dire fate of EU topics Young journalists as well as European Commission officials present at the EYJA-conference admit that writing about EU topics is challenging, but feasible with the proper skills and imagination. The participating countries of this year’s European Young Journalist Award can be divided into two groups: those that received a lot of articles and those where the participation rate was not that overwhelming. by Anniki Leppik
S
ome pattern can be distinguished. It was to be expected that countries that recently joined the EU, such as Bulgaria and Romania, and some of the candidate countries would end up with most contributions, as the accession or possible accession to the EU has recently been a very important part of their life. The Turkish winner, 29 year-old Kaan Kosemehmet, assured that not a day passes without the media in his country discussing EU-related topics. “It is definitely part of our everyday life.” Journalists are free to express their views about good and bad things that can happen when joining the EU. “We are not only writing about politics, we try to show to the Turks how accession
vox pops „it is their obligation to talk “ Young journalists are the opinion-makers of the future, so it is their obligation to talk to the people to understand what the EU means to them, and inform them in return about the processes that influence their lives. Tim Gopsill (UK) The Journalist
to the EU would influence their lives.” Turkey is one of the positive examples of the award, but there are countries that did not do so well. Possible Estonian participants pointed out before the deadline that the topic of this competition - EU enlargement - is not attractive enough to write about. Editors often refuse to publish texts about the topic, because of the lack of readers. As a result, only two Estonian articles were submitted and the jury decided not to assign a winner. Former journalist Karel Bartak, now Head of Youth Policy of DG EAC of the European Commission agrees: “Writing about the EU usually is boring and technical, but it has to be done.” He reproaches the jour¬nalists for concentrating
too much on politician’s views and forgetting those who will be influenced by the changes: regular citizens, children, youth and pensioners. “Often the editors do not give enough resources to deal with EU topics, because it doesn’t sell any papers. It would be perfect if at least two people could work on a story, one reporting about the Brussels aspect and the other dealing with local issues. It takes skills and time, but it can be done,” he states. Whose job is it to convince the editors about the importance of EU issues? “I think the European Commission should invite them more often to seminars and conferences, but they are just not coming, they send someone else.”
Tips and tricks for young journalists „make them think “ Interviewing an unreachable person becomes possible when you have a precise question about their inner passion. Make them think, force them to be creative and they will return the favour by showing you their soul. Eve Couturier (FR) France Inter
„write interesting stories“ Put theory into practice during your studies. Write and work as much as you can. Do not forget the basic rule: write interesting stories. It is not the famous face in the article that will keep your readers engaged. It is the story. Nazim Rashidi (FYROM) BBC
7
European Young Journalist Award · Final Conference 02 · 03 July 2008 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Does it make sense? Why did the European Commission launch this competition? A room full of national winners of the European Young Journalist Award, eagerly anticipating their certificates. A few young journalists are however missing out on their award ceremony. Take for example Vanja Susnjar from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Agron Shala from Kosovo, both missed out on their trip because of visa issues. “Even on such a nice day we have to remember that there is still really a lot to be done in Europe”, says Jan TruszczyNski, Deputy DirectorGeneral of the DG Enlargement. By Anna Sulewska
H
ow can we find out what is still to be done? How can we reach young people and get to know their ideas and thoughts? The European Commission decided some months ago to test if these issues could inflame people who were born and grew up when the European Union was growing up itself. “We were very curious if the theme of enlargement could also be important to them”, said Jan Trusz-
czynski. There were four hundred people from thirty five countries taking part in the competition. “I read all the winning articles and I felt this amazing freshness. It is incredible that all of them focused on what really matters. I love the human perspective that was very present in their texts. I am not only glad because they responded to our question, but also about the way in which they did it.” What is the next step? “We can
vox pops „learn a foreign language “ A specialisation is what will make you an asset to the media whether you focus on nuclear science or renewable energies. Learn a foreign language, move and start working as a correspondent. Kilian Kirchgessner (GER) weltreporter.net
offer young journalists - maybe not very sexy, but still - trips to Brussels and we can offer meetings on a national level”, promised Truszczynski. The EYJA-website will remain open and will be updated with information from the trip. He also said that the European Commission is already planning a next edition of the competition, maybe also with audiovisual and broadcasting components. So... there still is a lot to be done.
Tips and tricks for young journalists „sharing point-of-views “ Use your international colleagues as a way to gather information. They will not see you as competition, they are not biased by the national agenda and as a result you can both gain from sharing points of view from your countries. John Froelich (DK) Danish School of Journalism
„fight for the main values“ Devour everything you can read: newspapers and books on history, social sciences and politics. Be passionate about one topic without being a militant. Always keep in mind you have the voice and the knowledge to fight for the main values that are important in society. Ionita Ion M (ROM) Adevarul
8
European values or values of Europe? „I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” Evelyn Beatrice Hall in the spirit of Voltaire
T
ake some young journalists from all over Europe, put them together with EU officers and add some additional flavour by mixing in experts and experienced journalists and the result will make you satisfied if you are hungry for a fresh debate. When the topic of
EU enlargement is raised, the future of one of the power centres in the globalized world – were you actually thinking of Europe? – brings up many questions about common identity, diversity and shared values. After the recent Slovenian presidency, the Irish NO-vote and yet another
“historical” milestone in EU-history, the debate sounds strangely familiar. Ljubljana became the last the station where the train of brotherhood stopped after a trip through the Balkans. Over coffee and tea European values where defined. Or wait, can they actually be defined?
have to live for some time with these values, they must become part of their life, just like the air that we breathe, it is not possible to live without them. History proved that a democracy could easily turn into a dictatorship if it lost its values, so these values must be repeatedly underlined and people must feel they are a part of the democratic process. This is the biggest challenge. People are less and less interested in participative democracy, because they feel their voice is not being heard. Democracy has its limits, it is not a perfect system but nobody has invented anything better yet.”
Roman Moravcik
by Nikoletta Incze
Karel Bartak Head of Communication Unit, European Commission, DG Education and Culture “Basically, we all know that European integration is based upon a set of values which are often considered as universal values, but were born and created in Europe. Democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and other values which go beyond that - equity, social equality, basic rules concerning non-discrimination, racism, abolition of death penalty and the social model which are also part of the European heritage. These values cannot be questioned and cannot be discussed. Some old member states take these values for granted - they think they have always been there and they do not give them a lot of thought. The new member states that have recent totalitarian experiences pay much more attention to the defence of these values. That is why it is still important, even today, to talk about democracy, rule of law and human rights. People
Slovakian journalist of Hospodárske Noviny “If we look for unity in diversity, we find elements that make European democratic societies different from those cultures which have developed outside the continent. Europe is based on three main pillars - the Greek tradition of democracy, the Roman tradition of justice and rule of law and a humanistic view from the Judeo-Christian tradition. They are not universal values, but European values and they are coming from
9
European Young Journalist Award · Final Conference 02 · 03 July 2008 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
these three pillars. Freedom for me is the basic value of Europe: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, freedom of individuals. The so called “golden rule” limited this in the sense that you shouldn’t do to others what you don‘t want others to do to you - and this is the only limit of freedom which is acceptable for me in the EU. There is another basic European value which is not as common around the world as it is in Europe: gender equality. I know that there are no exact equal positions, but at least there is an effort and agreement how it should be and people are trying to behave on the basis of this agreement. Freedom and gender equality, to me these two basic values of Europe are the most important.”
the most important thing is the will to respect democracy, not democracy itself as a value. Concerning human rights and gender equality: that's a law, you can not evaluate it, because it's the law, it is part of the constitution. So it is up to the politicians and the state to make sure it is respected.
Britain is my adopted country and there is a saying there, which for me captures the essence of civilised thinking: we should agree to differ. It is
Liberty and democracy is a way of thinking and that takes time to develop. From my point of view you can judge democracy by these benchmarks: do the people ask questions, do the authorities get questions? If you go around in the new member countries, even in the old ones you will notice that the voice of authority basically carries an extra special weight. Like: he is the prime minister, so he must know everything. No he doesn't! And people are afraid to question authority, even the EU's authority. If an official comes to a press congress and says this, this and that, nobody dares to questions what he says. There are different opinions on how to define European values.
Edval Zoto
a human right to think differently, to be out of the mainstream, to express a different opinion. To me that is the essential European value, that needs to be carefully ensured, because this is the battle that starts again every single day. Democracy is a state of mind. Democracy is a way of breathing that you live on a daily basis. Democracy is not something you can inherit, get on a silver platter or buy in a shop. It is something you have to live by and prove every single day, year after year.
For me it is basically learning, it is teaching people to use their brains for thinking. It is using your common sense. There is not a perfect recipe. This is not the greatest secret in the world, there is nothing bigger than simply getting people to use their common sense, to ask questions and giving them an atmosphere where there is no fear and where there are no consequences if you ask unpleasant questions. We have the merger of free way of thinking, every single person has the right to disagree.
Albanian Army Officer, student of Turin University, Italy European values for me can mean nothing and everything, because there are no European values, There is only the aim of Europeans to respect some universal values. So nobody can tell to take democracy as a value, nobody can say that democracy is a European value, but what we see in Europe that democracy is really respected. We have to say that
Nenad Sebek Executive Director, Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe
10
„Even if you are small, you can achieve a lot of things“ As the first of the new member countries Slovenia held the EU Council presidency and put the enlargement towards the Western Balkans firmly on the agenda by Björn Richter
T
he list of keynote speeches during the conference opening was fully packed, so everybody feared a parade of boring EU speeches. Luckily, the representatives of Slovenia retained the openness from their presidency and surprised the audience with a fresh and honest attitude. As the first of the new member countries Slovenia took over the presidency of the European Union Council from January to June 2008. The small member state seized the opportunity to put special emphasis on the EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans. Of course the presidency also had to deal with the other EU topics, ranging from internal market policies and intercultural dialogue to the Lisbon Treaty and the negative Irish referendum. Gregor Krajc
„Today is the first day after the EU Council presidency and I believe we did a great job during the last six months. But the whole preparation took three years. More
than 2.500 people were involved inside our public administration – in 110 days they worked out more than 8.000 events related to the presidency.“, said Gregor Krajc, the young Deputy Director of the Government Communication Office of Slovenia. This Slovenian work was highlighted again by French ambassador Chantal de Bourmont as France follows their path and takes over the presidency from July onwards. . Krajc was par¬ticularly proud that the European Union signed official agreements with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina during their presidency. „Now all states have institutional agreements with Brussels and Slovenia can act as a door-opener in Europe, if the can¬didate- or potential candidatecountries do their homework.” Additionally, Mihela Zupancic, head of the Representative of the European Commission in Slovenia, pointed out that enlarging the Euro¬pean Union wasn’t always easy, but Slovenia might be a great example. The country only gained its independence in 1991 and now, 17 years later, they hosted the presidency of the EU Council: „Some might say it was slow and some might say it was fast. Maybe it looked slow from the outside but for us inside it was a huge step.“ She also mentioned the negative Irish referendum and in that respect proposed to wait for the final answer of the Irish government. However, she wants to realise more people-to-people exchanges in the
future, as she deems personal experiences of the utmost importance. Gregor Krajc also wants to wait for the Irish government’s reaction and doesn’t believe that the Lisbon Treaty is dead and buried. „If you consider the Irish referendum a crisis, then ask your colleagues from the Western Balkans what the word crisis means to them. The potential new-comers shouldn’t be afraid of the unsolved questions towards the treaty, because we will surely find a solution before the states from Western Balkans access.“ All keynote speakers showed their respect to the winners of the „European Young Journalist Award“and asked the young journalists to stay with the debate. After reading the articles Mihela Zupancic was surprised: „I like the articles because they show another side of Europe, which is not the institutional but the personal way. And as a former journalist I know that good journalism is based on sound knowledge.“ The last speaker, Anze Logar, Director of the Government Communication Office of Slovenia was even more brave and stated: „I do not envy you, winners, because now you have to keep following this path and your readers will expect a lot from you – as I do as a governmental representative. And I have to say, that if I’ll be nailed some day on the job, I would like to be nailed by you, because you are professionals, which you showed in your articles.“
11
European Young Journalist Award · Final Conference 02 · 03 July 2008 in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
The European Youth Press
The European Youth Press is an umbrella association of young journalists in Europe. It involves more than 48 000 young journalists less than 30 years of age. Up to now the young association consists of thirteen national youth media associations. The objectives of the European Youth Press are the strong cooperation among national youth media structures in Europe and their support. The overall aim is to strengthen the role of youth media and the freedom of press in Europe. The association sees itself as a service for the national structures and will foster projects of the different partners and projects that are organised by young media makers in Europe. The association provides contact forums and educational seminars for multipliers of the member associations and forces internal and external communication among all partners. With concrete projects, e.g. the international event magazine „Orange“ with print magazines or Blogs, PodCasts and V-Casts, the association wants to give young media makers from all over Europe the opportunity to cooperate directly with each other. Above all, the aim of all member associations and the umbrella structure is to inspire young people to deal with media and take an active part
in society by fostering objective and independent journalism. Orange
Orange is a Europe based event and theme magazine made by young journalists. This creates learning by doing experiences for the young journalists and also a magazine with a young and innovative view for the reader. The fact that the journalists come from different countries with different backgrounds of course makes this magazine very unique. Oranges have been created on a European basis since 2004 on several different topics and events such as political topics, religion and different festivals. The aim of the magazine is to let young journalists from all over Europe meet, work together and create multi-faced magazines with new and interesting contents. Creating it means having an exciting time in a quite unusual environment. Reading it means getting facts and opinions directly from young and innovative journalists. All in all, our Orange is always fresh and juicy. European Young Journalist Award
Young journalists from all over Europe were invited to participate in the first panEuropean competition on EU-enlargement issues. The European Commission‘s
Directorate-General for Enlargement launched this competition together with the European Youth Press to encourage young journalists to reflect on, express and exchange their views about the European Union‘s enlargement policy. Participants were asked to submit a recently published article on EU enlargement via the competition website www.EUjournalist-award.eu by March 15th 2008. The aim of the competition was to select a national winner for each country, while also initiating exchange and networking among young European journalists. In all 35 participating countries national juries of experienced journalists selected the winning article in their country out of 400 applications. From 29th June till 1st July the national winners participated on a trip through Western Balkan countries and experienced situation in Serbia as a potential member-country, Bosnia-Hercegovina as a candidate country and finally Slovenia as a member country of European Union. During the final conference from 2nd to 3rd July all winners, media representatives and politicians and highranked EU representatives debate about current EU issues and the winner were awarded. More information on the competition are available on their website www.EUjournalist-award.eu.
Orange team European Commission This Orange was made by a team of international young journalists from Poland, Germany, Belgium, Moldova, Estonia, Albania, Hungary and Romania at the final conference of European Young Journalists Award in Ljubljana July 2008. All articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of the magazine.
Anna Sulewska
Björn Richter
Lien De Leenheer
Dora Haller
Nikoletta Incze
Editor-in-chief: Anna Sulewska Layout: Dumitru Iovu Photographer: Yannick Brusselmans Editorial staff: Orange Magazine European Youth Press, rue de la tourelle 23, Brussels, Belgium
Carmen Claudia Paun
Doriana Metollari
Anniki Leppik
Dumitru Iovu
Yannick Brusselmans
Also have a look at: www.orangelog.eu
Jean Sébastien Lefebvre, France Besides the different historical background, I found that we have the same visions and goals and that we want to create something together. All this was like a big exchange.
Edval Zoto, Albania I saw different ways of arguing about the European enlargement and different perspectives to see this process. I’m taking home colourful ways of thinking about the European enlargement.
Mikko Antton Ronnholm, Finland We were making fun about the fact that you learn how to say “cheers” in many European languages. You also learn many things about every one else’s culture, things you don’t find in the newspapers. By talking to others, you can understand why things happen and how they affect the modern world.
Susana Ribeiro, Portugal With all the different stories and different backgrounds, it’s easier to understand some things better. You personalize the story. You create a bond with the other participants and you know that you have somebody to translate the things concerning his or her country for you whenever you write an article about it.
Giacomo Rosso, Italy I learned that everybody feels European, whether coming from a member state of the European Union or not. And I think it is important to enlarge this feeling, because Europe is made of all the European countries’ history.
Mojca Finc, Slovenia I have met a lot of people and I am convinced that there are no real borders left in the EU, only borders in our mind. This was an experience that probably will enrich our lives in the future.
Jelena Stevanovic, Serbia I think the future of my profession is in good hands, after meeting the other winners. They are intelligent and polite. It’s really great that they got to travel all over Europe and they know each other’s countries.
Annelien De Greef, Belgium It was great to meet the other winners and see how many things we have in common. The most valuable output was meeting each other and I know we will keep in contact and make something out of this meeting.
Leen Vervaeke, The Netherlands I am impressed with the experience the other winners have. They are so young and they have already done so many things. You get a lot of energy from this and you get all this information that makes you decide to do something new and learn some new languages from across Europe.
I TAKE HOME FROM THIS EVENT... Collected by Carmen Claudia PAun
Andreas Polycarpou, Cyprus Now that I have met the Turkish winner, I know the problem between Cyprus and his country concerns the government, not the people. I had some stereotypes about Turkey because of this problem, but after this interaction I don’t have them anymore.
Photo by Filip Jurzyk
Gojko Keselj – Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia I learned from Greece and Cyprus that the problem with my country’s name isn’t that much of a people’s problem, but a political one. I learned from the winners from Great Britain and Ireland that they care more about the European Union than I thought. I learned from Serbia they face the same problems we do.