EDITORIAL VISION
Welcome words by the Editor My name is Janis Fifka, I am 24 years old and I am living in Germany where I study History and Political Sciences. Besides I like travelling by train and photography. I have been involved in the EYP for more than seven years now, but only after a long period of organising events and working in the board of my national committee, I started to explore what media teams can offer me. Thus Thessaloniki will be my first-time editing experience. I am looking forward to work with you!
Janis Fifka (DE) The role of the Media Team The role of the media team at an EYP session is perhaps the hardest one to define out of all the other teams, as well as the one that is most different than what it would be in the “real world”. While the role of the different media organs and especially that of newspapers comes down to delivering objective news, to investigating and to providing critical viewpoints, what the media teams at EYP sessions do differentiates from this considerably. The latter is because we, as EYP, are a different organisation than many of our counterparts and we have other values than those in real politics. At all stages of our sessions, we try to make sure that everyone feels included and we care about personal development of the delegates –and this is especially important at a National Selection Conference like Thessaloniki 2018. While the media team will not limit itself to create entertaining, aesthetic and overall impressive videos, photos and other projects, the media team members will be those who document what is going on, deliver news and insight and comment. As this shall not be a boundary to interaction with delegates or other participants, the session itself should work as a platform for critical thinking where opinions are formed and to be shown to the “outer world”. It’s clear that not all participants will have the will or possibility to take part in this on the same level and have different ways of expressing themselves. That is why different opportunities shall be presented where they can either give an interview to a journalist, have their pictures taken, take part in the interactive session elements or write comments to other committees. Approaching the session’s vision Given this vision, the media team will support the session vision by promoting sustainability of the session by aiming for a high approachability of the topics, officials and media products we are going to create. This is to frame EYP as an opportunity for diverse involvement that can last and which can reach out to the outer world. Especially when it comes to a bigger focus on highlighting ways to impact the society and to foster well-being in our activities, setting the message right would be a key aspect in making our session concept more successful. This not only applies to the
delegates, but also to the participants that are shaping Thessaloniki 2018, such as the media team members that will be provided with a clear working structure, a manageable number of projects, space and the chance to take time out. As a support to the implementation of the topics and the academic preparation of the chairpersons, the media team should be the catalysts for controversies focussing pro and con of the diverse ways of tackling the issues. Small commentary articles or visual content that is easy to deliver and easy to produce such as social media content, info graphics, podcasts would aim to contribute to the topic overviews and the session theme about education, linking political issues with everyday stories of participants from their university or work or school. Following developments in broadening the scope of academic input the media team provides to a session and to the delegates, Thessaloniki 2018 will aim to further contribute to a new way of thinking of media teams in EYP. With an interactive session element to be created based on recent experiences with the newly established press conference, the media team will incorporate opinions from outside the session and thus making it more realistic and involving at the same time. The structure of the Media Team Structurally speaking, the media team will consist of up to ten journalists and up to three editorial assistants. While the choice of the medium (i.e. article, photo gallery, video etc.) will be up to the media team members, the work of the team will be focused around three working streams. The vision behind these three streams is to channel the output among the input of the participants and the theme of the session. The following questions would guide the media team through the process: (1) TEACH: What does education look like in Europe? How do societies put it in practice? What can other participants teach us? (2) LEARN: What would an ideal learning environment look like? What do we want to learn and why? What kind of learning opportunities does EYP and Thessaloniki 2018 offer? (3) ENACT: How can we transform our ideas into actions? What do we need to get involved? What can we teach others, what can we teach society and politics? What do we take from the session? Editorial assistants may take responsibilities for one or more of the following working fields: videography, photography, layout, and writing. If possible, each editorial assistant would also take over partial responsibility in guiding the journalists that are part of a working stream in terms of project management and personal support. The same applies for buddy groups that are not part of the stream structure. The allocation of journalists to projects and responsibilities will be based on interests, motivation and skills.