Join EJC & top media thinkers at PICNIC 2010

Maastricht - August 11, 2010

On 23 September, world class media thinkers including Jeff Jarvis, Rafat Ali, Mark Glaser and Paul Bradshaw, will join EJC for a day of debates on the future of journalism at PICNIC 2010.

Held in Amsterdam every year, PICNIC is a renowned festival-cum-conference that blurs the lines between creativity, science, technology, business and society. Attracting a wide audience, from government leaders and heads of business to scientists and innovators, the aim is to explore new solutions in the spirit of co-creation.

Covering the successes and failures of recent years in the media industry, as well as the growth of public engagement, EJC’s exclusive one-day PICNIC 2010 programme will focus on the real need to reconstruct journalism and its relationship with the citizen and society.

The four general concepts of the EJC session include:

1. In a time of experimentation and testing, trek with us through the contemporary digital landscape in the context of journalism’s possibilities;

2. Explore the dynamics of social media in a networked world, as we analyse the changing relationship between journalists and non-professional contributors to the public sphere;

3. Through discussion of sustainable revenue models, join us as we look at ways to monetise (and secure) the future of news;

4. Take a closer look at the relationship between privacy and democracy in light of Internet governance.

Interested in attending?

Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more details
Tel. +31 43 325 40 30

Posted on August 11, 2010 by EJC
Filed under events.

Press Freedom 2.0: pluralism and participation

Maastricht - July 1, 2010

The Press Freedom Consortium, a new collaboration of five Dutch development organisations that support press freedom worldwide, has finalised and submitted its final programme application this Thursday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, in the context of the ‘Co-Financing System II’ (MFSII).

The proposal, entitled Press Freedom 2.0, aims to alleviate structural poverty by enhancing media quality, improving democratic processes and strengthening women, children and minorities by giving them a voice. If the application for financing is granted, an extensive range of projects will be implemented over the next five years in 13 developing countries. This application is the only one of the 21 submitted proposals that focuses directly at the development of freedom of speech and free access to information.

The Consortium consists of Free Voice (main applicant), Mensen met een Missie, European Journalism Centre, European Partnership for Democracy, and World Press Photo, who have submitted the proposal for a total of 34 million euro. After the approval of the programme outline by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December 2009, the Consortium finalised the five-year plan jointly with all parties in the Netherlands and with dozens of partner organisations and Dutch embassies in the 13 target countries.

Through this combination of knowledge, resources and networks, the new partnership will be able to make a strong impact on the sustainable improvement of press freedom, pluralism and participation of citizens in the media. This combination of forces enables the partners of the Consortium to work within societies from grassroots level to civil society and political level, with the goal to improve access to objective information for everyone. This is seen as an absolute prerequisite for sustainable development of any economy and democracy.

Examples of Press Freedom 2.0 initiatives are safety training for journalists in violent Mexico, Kids News Radio in Senegal to inform children in the poorest areas, expansion of media literacy curricula in Ghana’s elementary and secondary schools, establishment of an alternative news agency in Zimbabwe, training for women journalists in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bolivia, and professional photo training for local photographers in the Philippines.

On 1 November 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue its final decision on the application.

More information:

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address): +31 35 625 0110
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address): +31 35 625 0116

Posted on July 1, 2010 by EJC
Filed under announcements.

EJC launches GoogleWatch to monitor global conversations about Google

Maastricht - May 20, 2010

We’ve had our eye on Google since the beginning.

News about the ubiquitous Internet search engine began regularly appearing in our daily compendium of media news in 1999, less than a year after Google incorporated.

We now bring you GoogleWatch, a stand-alone platform that enables a deeper look at the global conversation about Google.

Over the past decade, Google has swelled to successfully provide services like e-mail, translation, advertising, and YouTube. These products are utilised around the globe and have transformed how we interact with information.

Google’s steps into our lives reverberate louder with each passing day. The ways this company affects the way we interface with news information cannot be overstated.

“It is a major player in all kind of industries,” EJC director Wilfried Ruetten said. “It deserves some closer scrutiny.”

The EJC has utilised the real-time aggregation possibilities of Soup.io to generate a platform that works nonstop to gather news and analysis about Google from around the world. We think this resource facilitates a thorough examination of how Google’s approach to data and information has impacted European media and society.

Our GoogleWatch is useful for journalists, researchers, bloggers and students interested in the transformative properties of this California-based company.

It is an Open Source resource, meaning that interested parties may examine the processes we have used to create our GoogleWatch. This open approach also allows us to encourage interested colleagues to adapt and build on our work.

For more information, don’t hesitate to contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Posted on May 20, 2010 by EJC
Filed under work.

Press Freedom 2.0 moves forward

Maastricht - April 12, 2010

The Dutch Ministry of Development Co-operation has encouraged Press Freedom 2.0, a collaboration of five organisations including the EJC, to persist with its plan to strengthen press freedom worldwide.

The Press Freedom 2.0 project will address challenges to media and journalism in a development context. The project will focus on 13 developing countries over five years as part of the wider goals of the Dutch foreign ministry in reducing global poverty.

An initial version of the plan has qualified for government support as part of Mede Financierings Stelsel 2 (MFS2).

The Press Freedom 2.0 team has received a green light to elaborate its plan further. The Ministry will respond to a second submission from Press Freedom 2.0 in October. It will announce the exact amount of funding to be granted at that time.

This collaboration is an effort of five Dutch development organisations: Free Voice, European Journalism Centre (EJC), European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Mensen met een Missie (MM) and World Press Photo.

The team last year submitted an innovative plan for strengthening press freedom with a budget of 34 million euro over five years.

A summary of the proposal is available upon request. For more information, please contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), director of Free Voice, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), communication manager at Free Voice.

Posted on April 12, 2010 by EJC
Filed under projects.

Reporting Development: Handbook links Central Europe to developing world

Maastricht - March 12, 2010

EJC’s media development team has just published a handbook for reporters from Central Europe, covering development issues around the world. As they move from beneficiaries to donors, Central Europeans are now looking to the global level. There is a growing sense that people are more connected than ever: from trade and tourism to environment, health epidemics and international crime.

“Here the role of journalists is vital,” co-author Oliver Wates said. “Their readers, listeners and viewers need to know why people are poor, what can be done to improve their situation, which aid policies are effective and what types of policy changes are needed to help the most vulnerable. It is up to well-informed, creative journalists to find ways of engaging them.”

Available in Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and English, the book is part of the Europeaid project To Act you have to Know, which is raising awareness about development issues in new member states. “This practical guide is the first of its kind in Central Europe: it tackles how to technically write better stories and how to make them more relevant to the local audience. The images donated by Alertnet are moving, striking and inspiring,” says editor Josh LaPorte.

Practical and portable
The book can be downloaded here in PDF format. It will be given to 100 participants at EJC’s TH!NK3: Developing World event in Brussels, March 22-23, and feeds into another EJC project, ‘East4South’, where young journalists from new member states team up with African media professionals to report on development.

NOTE TO EDITORS: This handbook was produced in a consortium with: DemNet, People In Need, Polish Humanitarian Organisation, and Partners for Democratic Change and NDGOs platform.

Posted on March 12, 2010 by EJC
Filed under news, development.

EJC invites 120 journalists to cover the EU neighbourhood

Maastricht - February 19, 2010

Looking to pay a visit next door? A new series of eight press briefings will facilitate European journalists to report stories from countries neighbouring the EU. The events will kick-off in Brussels with one-day of preparation followed by an intensive three-day study tour in one of the selected countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Israel, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. 

The programmes will feature meetings, on-site visits and panels with a wide range of sources offering useful background information and discussing newsworthy topics. The main EU policy at work, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), will be put under the spotlight together with other relevant focus themes. 

All media categories are qualified for participation (print, TV, radio and online). The EJC will select 15 reporters specialised in covering foreign / EU affairs for each briefing, prioritising first-time applicants. 

This initiative is financially backed by the European Commission.

More information about the briefings can be found in the online leaflet.

Interested journalists are invited to apply online at ejcseminars.eu. 

Posted on February 19, 2010 by EJC
Filed under news, seminars.

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 info@thinkaboutit.eu for more information.

Non-European applications: 19th February 2010
European applications: 28th February 2010

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.