EJC announces Round 3 of TH!NK ABOUT IT blogging competition.

Maastricht - February 9, 2010

Internationally renowned blogging competition seeks enthusiastic journalists, bloggers, students and experts! TH!NK3: Developing World is the latest in the European Journalism Centre’s TH!NK ABOUT IT blogging series and will feature some 100 participants from 27 EU member states, neighbourhood countries and beyond, as they track sustainable development efforts and global cooperation initiatives around the world.

The third round of TH!NK blogging competition will be launched with a kick-off event on 22-23 March in Brussels.

Participation in TH!NK3: Developing World includes travel opportunities to Asia, Africa and New York City, where TH!NKers will report on development issues from on the ground!

Sign Up today: thinkaboutit.eu or contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.

The EJC has received additional support for the TH!NK3: Developing World launch event from the European Commission.

Posted on February 9, 2010 by EJC
Filed under news, blogging, events.

EJC joins press freedom consortium

Maastricht - December 9, 2009

Five Dutch nonprofit organisations have joined together to strengthen press freedom around the world. The partnership, called Press Freedom 2.0, includes World Press Photo, European Journalism Centre, European Partnership for Democracy, People on a Mission and Free Voice.

The EJC joined the Press Freedom 2.0 consortium to help build local professional journalism capacity, raise ethical standards and improve media literacy in developing countries.

Each Dutch development organisation involved has worldwide networks, which can now be linked. The resulting collaborative climate will be the best possible environment for the sustainable strengthening of independent media on a local level.

Press Freedom 2.0 also wishes to amplify the voices of minorities, women and children in local news spaces.

In recent months, the alliance has been working intensely with dozens of local partners in the global south on a 34m euro grant request to work in that area.
 
The grant request is being proposed through a new co-financing system (MFS II), which runs from 2011 until 2015. The system aims to spur the actions of Dutch social organisations that work toward structural poverty reduction.

Posted on December 9, 2009 by EJC
Filed under development.

EU4Journalists now in Croatian and Turkish

Maastricht - December 4, 2009

The EJC is pleased to announce that the main content of the EU4Journalists website is now available in Croatian and Turkish.

Our goal is to help journalists cover the EU, whether they are based in Brussels, candidate countries or elsewhere. We provide essential information about how the EU works, as well as contact details of EU press officers.

Our dossiers give a solid background on EU policy areas and links throughout the site help users find the latest developments. We try to use as little jargon as possible, making the site especially useful for reporters covering unfamiliar subjects in a hurry.

EU4Journalists will always be a work in progress. New elements, including changes made under the Lisbon Treaty, are added and old ones removed on a regular basis. Please check the weekly video podcast on the homepage for the latest EU agenda.

Posted on December 4, 2009 by EJC
Filed under projects, website.

Reporters join researchers in the fight against cancer

Maastricht - November 19, 2009

Cancer claimed 7.4 million lives in 2004 and that number could rise to 12 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization. Key to fighting cancer is to understand not only how it starts but also how it spreads within the body, a process known as metastasis. To this end, researchers are studying the link between metastasis and the viability of lymphatic systems and then sharing their findings with the EU’s ‘REsearch LAbs for TEaching Journalists’ (RELATE).

The Lymphatic and Cancer Bioengineering lab at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) is doing pioneering work on the physiology and biology of lymphatic transport, how it affects cancer metastasis and immune cell trafficking. To help explain this research to the general public, the lab will host a group of young journalists as part of RELATE from 16-20 November.

RELATE brings scientists face to face with next generation journalists in a two-way learning curve. The reporters will shadow and interview researchers, write daily blogs and produce a final article, audio or video piece. This should demystify the research, be engaging, balanced and accurate, while exploring the possible impacts and benefits for society.

The young journalists will then pitch their work to mainstream and science media with the help of the European Journalism Centre. The programme aims to build bridges across Europe: between scientists, journalists and the rest of society. It is also a showcase for cutting-edge cooperation between the EU and candidate countries.

MORE LABS, MORE ROUNDS
RELATE project was launched early this month with the visit of five students to the Nanotechnology Research Center of the Bilkent University in Ankara (Turkey). Seven students followed them in Rome, visiting several laboratories at ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development).

A second application window is open until 30 November 2009, feeding the following rounds in March and November 2010. Journalism students, particularly from new member states and candidate countries, are encouraged to apply online at: http://relateproject.eu/.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:
RELATE is a project funded by the European Commission under the Science in Society research area of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Up to 80 young journalists will visit labs across Europe, interview researchers, then publish their findings. Their articles should ‘make sense of science’ for a non-specialist audience.

Project partners include Minerva Consulting and Communication (Belgium), the European Journalism Centre (The Netherlands), and three European research bodies: ENEA (Italy), EPFL (Switzerland) and TÜBITAK (Turkey).

RELATE coordinator
Ms. Hinano Spreafico
MINERVA Consulting & Communication Sprl.
hinano@minerva-communication.eu
Tel. +32 2 544 1888

RELATE contact in Switzerland
Ms. Mary Parlange
Mary.parlange@epfl.ch
+41 78 811 3225

RELATE media contact
Mr. Howard Hudson
European Journalism Centre
hudson@ejc.net
Tel. +31 433 254030

Posted on November 19, 2009 by EJC
Filed under projects.

Young journalists probe latest climate change scenarios

Maastricht - November 9, 2009

A month before the UN climate change conference, RELATE is going behind the scenes at environmental labs near Rome, joining scientists working inter alia on high-res climate change scenarios for the Mediterranean and West Africa.

As part of ‘REsearch LAbs for TEaching Journalists’ (RELATE), seven European journalism students will visit the Casaccia Research Centre of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) from 9-13 November. Divided by groups, the students will tour various labs focusing not only on climate science, but also photovoltaics, electrical storage, and food genetics. 

RELATE brings scientists face to face with next generation journalists in a two-way learning curve. The reporters will shadow and interview researchers, write daily blogs and produce a final article, audio or video piece. This should demystify the research, be engaging, balanced and accurate, while exploring the possible impacts and benefits for society. 

The young journalists will then pitch their work to mainstream and science media with the help of the European Journalism Centre. The programme aims to build bridges across Europe: between scientists, journalists and the rest of society. 
 
MORE LABS, MORE ROUNDS
RELATE was launched last week with a visit to the Nanotechnology Research Center of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Next week, five more students will visit EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A second application window is open until 30 November 2009, feeding the following rounds in March and November 2010. Journalism students, particularly from new member states and candidate countries, are encouraged to apply online at: http://relateproject.eu/.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:
RELATE is a project funded by the European Commission under the Science in Society research area of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Up to 80 young journalists will visit labs across Europe, interview researchers, then publish their findings. Their articles should ‘make sense of science’ for a non-specialist audience.

Project partners include Minerva Consulting and Communication (Belgium), the European Journalism Centre (The Netherlands), and three European research bodies: ENEA (Italy), EPFL (Switzerland) and TÜBITAK (Turkey). 

LINKS
Project site: http://relateproject.eu/
Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96927977211
ENEA: http://www.enea.it/com/ingl/default.htm

Contact: EJC’s .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more details.

Posted on November 9, 2009 by EJC
Filed under projects.

Covering the Crisis: Every angle covered

Maastricht - November 2, 2009

Estonian Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi, financial futurist Bernard Lietaer and former Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen lead the programme for Covering the Crisis, the EJC Interface conference on the role of the media in the financial crisis.

This event also features a cartoon exhibit on the financial crisis by Kevin ‘Kal’ Kallaugher, the editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine. The two-day event takes place on 9 and 10 November in Brussels.

Covering the Crisis brings together top business reporters, academics and bankers to draw lessons from how the crisis was covered both in financial and general media in Europe and the US. Our speakers include: Asgeir Jónsson of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank; Financial Times associate editor Wolfgang Munchau; Dean Starkman of the Columbia Journalism Review; and Chris Hughes, editor of BreakingViews.com. Energetic conference moderator Eithne Treanor, herself a former correspondent for ABC, Bloomberg and CNBC, will ensure a lively debate.

Our full lineup can be found on a dedicated conference website: www.coveringthecrisis.eu.

Jónsson will kick off with a keynote speech tagged, Did the media and the market let down Iceland?. The Kaupthing Bank chief economist recently published a book, Why Iceland?, on the demise of Iceland’s economy, suggesting that Iceland took on the role of the canary in the global coal mine. Another author, Wolfgang Munchau, who writes a weekly column about the European Union and the European economy for the Financial Times, will attend. Munchau’s latest book, The Meltdown Years: The Unfolding of the Global Economic Crisis, is a comprehensive analysis of threats to the global economy.
 
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the Party of European Socialists, will speak on financial regulation in the European Union. His views are considered an alternative to the plans currently being pursued by the European Commission. On the second day of the conference, the director of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Karel Lannoo, will update participants on the state of the EU’s new regulatory landscape.

Our conference coincides with the November meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels. Before this Ecofin meeting formally starts on Tuesday, Estonia’s Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi will stop by Covering the Crisis to speak about how the crisis was dealt with in his country and how he perceived media coverage on the crisis. A number of people working for finance ministries in the EU member states and for the European Central Bank will attend the conference as participants.

‘The Crime of Our Time’

Media coverage of the financial crisis will be analysed throughout the conference as we work to draw lessons for the future of financial journalism and reporting in general. Among the journalists speaking are vocal critics including Dean Starkman, editor of the financial blog The Audit at Columbia Journalism Review, and Danny Schechter, the News Dissector. Schechter will present his new movie, The Crime of Our Time, during a get-together at The Claridge multimedia venue on Monday evening. His movie exposes the financial crisis as a crime story.

More highlights:

Robert Teitelman, editor-in-chief of The Deal; Mark Gilbert, global capital markets columnist for Bloomberg News; BreakingViews.com editor Chris Hughes; and Robert McLeod, founding editor of MLex.com, will discuss the need to reinvent financial journalism as a commentary, analysis and intelligence service. Ethical issues will be addressed by Melisande Middleton, director of the Center for International Media Ethics in Paris.

The financial services sector will be represented by Eclectica hedge-fund manager Hugh Hendry; Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics in Austin, Texas; Tim Johnson of City-based reputation management firm Regester Larkin; and former Dutch business journalist Willem Middelkoop, who now offers a gold trading service. Hendry is one of the UK’s best-known fund managers, famous for his bold, contrarian views. He is a familiar face to viewers on CNBC, BBC and Channel 4. Schenker worked as risk specialist at McKinsey, and as economist at Wachovia bank. His inside views will inform his presentation, The Story Not Reported, on the second day of the conference.

Academic input will come from Damian Tambini of the London School of Economics, author of a groundbreaking research report on the rights and duties of financial and business journalists; professor Steve Schifferes of London City University, who will analyse how the BBC called the crisis; and Mark Fenton-O’Creevy, professor of organisational behaviour at the Open University Business School, adviser to the BBC’s Aftershock series, who will discuss the role of media in social amplification processes.  Karel Williams of Manchester University and Ewald Engelen of the University of Amsterdam will deliver a joint presentation on Storytelling by Distributive Coalition.

The prospect of a new money paradigm will be addressed in a session with presentations by Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of the Bruegel thinktank and Bernard Lietaer, financial futurist and research fellow at University of California-Berkeley. This session seeks bold ideas to challenge the economic practices and premises that caused the financial meltdown.

For more details and to watch the livestream:
www.coveringthecrisis.eu

Join the debate on our Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube links:
www.coveringthecrisis.eu

Contact:
Programme queries: Raymond Frenken
Administrative queries: Bianca Lemmens

The European Journalism Centre is an independent, international, non-profit institute dedicated to the highest standards in journalism, mainly through the further training of journalists and media professionals. Building on its extensive international network, the Centre operates as a partner and facilitator in a wide variety of projects.

Posted on November 2, 2009 by EJC
Filed under events.

‘Nano-Trip’ to Ankara: New study tour for young journalists

Maastricht - November 1, 2009

Turkish labs working on ‘cloaking’ metamaterials and organic lasers will host a group of young journalists this week, launching the EU programme ‘REsearch LAbs for TEaching Journalists’ (RELATE). The journalism students from five European universities will be in Ankara from 1-6 November as guests of Bilkent University Nanotechnology Research Center.

The project brings scientists face to face with next generation journalists in a two-way learning curve. The reporters will shadow and interview researchers, write daily blogs and produce a final article, audio or video piece. This should demystify the research, be engaging, balanced and accurate, while exploring the possible impacts and benefits for society.

The young journalists will then pitch their work to mainstream and science media with the help of the European Journalism Centre. For a taste of their backgrounds: one has already written for a top Italian newspaper, and another has worked for the Lithuanian national broadcaster.

The programme is building bridges across Europe: between scientists, journalists and the rest of society. It is also a showcase for cutting-edge cooperation between the EU and candidate countries.

MORE LABS, MORE ROUNDS
Later this month, seven young journalists will travel to ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) near Rome, then five more will visit EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland. These trips will cover the latest research into climate change, alternative energies and bioengineering.
A second application window is open until 30 November 2009, feeding the following rounds in March and November 2010. Journalism students, particularly from new member states and candidate countries, are encouraged to apply online at: http://relateproject.eu/.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:
RELATE is a project funded by the European Commission under the Science in Society research area of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Up to 80 young journalists will visit labs across Europe, interview researchers, then publish their findings. Their articles should ‘make sense of science’ for a non-specialist audience.

Project partners include Minerva Consulting and Communication (Belgium), the European Journalism Centre (The Netherlands), and three European research bodies: ENEA (Italy), EPFL (Switzerland) and TÜBITAK (Turkey). For more on the ‘European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009’, see: http://www.ejc.net/magazine/ 

LINKS
Project site: http://relateproject.eu/
Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96927977211
Bilkent University: http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/index.html

Posted on November 1, 2009 by EJC
Filed under projects.

What’s the media’s role in the financial crisis?

Maastricht - October 9, 2009

More than 10 top international journalists, financial writers and academics have confirmed they will speak at CoveringTheCrisis, an international conference questioning the role of the media in the economic meltdown, organised by the European Journalism Centre (EJC).

The conference takes place in Brussels on Monday, Nov. 9, and Tuesday, Nov. 10, bringing together journalists, business representatives and policymakers from Europe and the USA. Click here for more.

Posted on October 9, 2009 by EJC
Filed under events.