The future of European journalism lies in the hands of young journalists from all over Europe. It may sound obvious, but in practice it's not. Differences in language and culture pose a great obstacle to any European-wide attempt. But one thing is sure: initiative pays off.
“European journalism is a myth. European journalism does not exist.” Mr. Giuseppe Zaffuto, Director of Programmes at the European Journalism Centre and the President of Journalists at Your Service, was sure of his words when he questioned one of the three key words of the conference-debate “European Youth Journalism: Where do we go from here?” held on Thursday, April 24th, at the Residence Palace in Brussels.
He continued by saying that there are too many languages and too many cultural differences for there to be true European Journalism. Even via national media it is difficult to reach everybody, since the opinions differ a lot between regions.
Then what would be a way to reach the public with European stories? Mrs. Maria Laura Franciosi, Senior Journalist on European Affairs, had the answer: “You won't find your European stories in the Berlaymont [the European Commission headquarters]. There you will find framework for your articles. But the true issues you will only discover through talking to people, to the real Europeans.”
Who will find you your job?
The current situation of employment within journalism was a hot topic in this very interactive debate. Some young journalists raised the question of the lack of jobs in the field. When asked about EU initiatives in these matters Mr. Joe Hennon Spokesperson for the Commissioner Margot Wallström, answered: “Who has the right to be a journalist? It's the same principle as for a musician. What musician has the right to be in a band? The first thing that determines your future is talent. Is it really the European Commission's job to find you a job?”
However, the lack of jobs is not a problem everywhere. The main issue seems to be whether you're being paid for what you're doing or not. Ms. Dominika Peterova, a young Slovakian student, said that journalism students in Slovakia easily found jobs during their studies. The demand of workforce is high. “But making a living as a journalist, full time, in one single company, will not make for a very good life.”
Ms. Vanessa Witkowski, Secretary General of the European Youth Press and moderator of the debate, expressed that she would like to see a new business model for journalism. As a response to the challenge, Mr. Stefano Valentino, one of the participants, explained his vision of the future where Internet would play a key role. All the information that would be placed on the Internet would be easy to find by everyone and newspapers would only need a couple of editors working in the office. The rest of the work, the original stories, would be made by journalists on the spot and sold as freelance products to the papers, via the journalists' blogs and web pages.
The problem of acquiring a European Statute for associations was addressed by Indigo Magazine and vividly debated. This magazine is an example of a pan-European association which is active in several countries, and therefore doesn't want to register in one. Still, a final conclusion was not reached and the panellists could not say when any progress would be made in the question. Ms. Franciosi expressed that in her opinion, only when we can get European citizenship this will be possible.
It's all about the people
“There are more women in media today then before, but the job as a journalist is still a great challenge to women,” stated Mrs. Franciosi. Still, she explained that women also seem to have people skills that the industry demands, more and more.
But the lack of women in the top ladder of the media industry still worried the participants of the debate.
“I don't think this is a problem in the media, but in the society”, Mr. Hennon argued.
The panellists all agreed that, in the end, what matters is the people. On that Mr. Zaffuto stated that, whilst Brussels had many working journalists, there were still certain areas almost undiscovered. “Brussels is not missing the champion's league of media. Here you can find everything that is international and national.” Instead, he thought that the regional media, the one that he believes to be the most effective in reaching its readership, remains severely underrepresented. “My advice to young journalists is not to come here to speak to Javier Solana [the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union], but to find your own niche, what's important for your own region, and to go from there.”
The conference-debate was organised by the European Youth Press, the cafebabel Brussels team and the Forum for European Journalism Students, with the kind support of the European Journalism Centre.
