on EYMD 2008
Peace is an old story page 2
European Parliament in Motion page 8
Where are the news born? page 12
2 EDITORIAL Orange. 17 strangers which have never worked together before, from 10 different countries with 10 different backgrounds, following 200 participants, spread all over European Parliament and Brussels, representing 27 EU member states, 60 hours to catch the EYMD spirit and transmit to 1 magazine. 0 blank pages and very concrete editorial Jakub Gornicki and Anna Sulewska Editors-in-chief
“Peace is an old story” The European Dream is in need of makeover – the question is however, in which direction should we go? This was the theme of opening panel discussion of the EYMD 2008 BY DAVID MICHAEL BARNWELL
s one of the participating MEPs said, we are by now all dancing to the same music. But does this mean that there aren’t any dissonances to be found in this common European tune? During Thursday’s discussion the aging paroles about a united Europe, brought together by peace itself, were questioned by a new generation of young Europeans. Instead, the visions for a New European Dream quickly became the order of the day.
New times - new prerogatives Some fifty years ago Europe rose from the ashes of World War ll with an agenda of change. Rising nationalism, economic despair and geo-political ambitions twirled the European nation states into hostilities and atrocities that rang an all too familiar bell. With the ending of the War, the time had come for radical change. In this context The European Dream saw daylight
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for the first time, a dream of a united Europe, marked by peace, prosperity and progress. This, however, was fifty years ago and Europe has come a long way since then. For a whole new generation of rapidly integrating young Europeans, peace has become normality itself. European peace and unity is surely important – few would say otherwise – but it is also an old story. Instead, a whole generation of young Europeans is now struggling to find a new common prerogative in a time of rapid change and disappearing borderlines. A New European Dream, suitable for the needs of our generation and capable of further uniting Europeans everywhere, seems to be looking for its articulation.
independence from Russian oil- and gas reserves, the Georgian question, vanishing national identities and the infamous democratic deficit were all matters that split the waters between both listeners and MEPs. But where in all this do we find the much needed dynamics for the New European Dream? What should be the glue that will bind future generations of Europeans together?
Communication, unification and a bit of shine
Where do we turn?
As Project Coordinator of the EYMD 2008 Linda Poppe is heavily involved with young Europeans on a daily basis, and not surprisingly, she sees the streaming, borderless communication as one major component of The New European Dream:
As Thursday’s discussion revealed this will be no easy task. European
- To me, it has a lot to do with communication. So many people, speaking so many
different languages, and yet they speak which each other. To me, that’s a New European Dream coming true. Anna Sulewska is a board member of the European Youth Press and was the head speaker at Thursday’s opening discussion. Born in Poland, living in Germany, and now working as a facilitator in one of the EYMD’s many workshops in Bruxelles, she dreams of a truly united Europe of the future: - My New European Dream is that this will one day become simply “Europe” rather that “a European Union”. Many still see this as a union of individual nations, more than a united Europe. My dream is that we overcome this and become Europeans in the very sense of the word. Others like Robin from England who is attending the EYMD for the second time are slightly more pragmatic: - Very simple. I want shiny happy people! In sum, it appears that the European youth of today have at least one big challenge ahead of itself. Few disagree that Peace, Prosperity and Progress are all important components of the truly unique structure that is the European Union. But on the other hand, this is all old news. Working towards a consensus of what exactly should constitute the next leap forward in this way appears to be an obvious task for today’s European Youth in search of a common dream. Peace can no longer do it this alone – in too many ways we’ve simply made it too far.
„We all have our place in this game. You should never quarrel with journalists. It is just a lost batTLE...“ Alejo Vidal-Quadras, European Parliament VicePresident during Opening Ceremony
4 NUMBER CRUNCHING
20 268
Citizens of the EU represented by the European Parliament
21
Percentage of the budget that goes on MEPs‘ expenses, including costs for travel, offices and the pay of personal assistants
A POLICY OVER A FRYING PAN Is it easy to talk about an EU policy for cutting vegetables? Do you think that the food on your plate can't be a political matter? By Karolina PRZYBYSZ and Tressia BOUKHORS Beef, lamb, a delicious tomato sauce... Everybody likes tasty dishes. But who thinks about legal regulations while eating lunch? The participants of EU Cookbook - A Europolitical cooking talk show workshop exchanged their opinions about genetically modified food, discussed their attitudes towards the ban on it, learnt about agricultural subsidies ... and did all this in the kitchen of European Parliament between the pots, frying pans and plates. They
all agree that cooking together brings people closer and makes it easier to talk about policies. “When we are looking at a plate full of tit-bits, the only thing that comes to our mind is pleasure. But it is worth remembering that everything that we eat is regulated by law,” said Dominika Petrova from the co-ordination team of the EYMD and the facilitator of the workshop. Heard the joke about straightening of bananas? Quiet down, fortunately the EU won't
be quite so strict! Discussing regulations, however, was only part of the workshop. The second part was a meeting with the Belgian TV star Piet Huysentruyt. The chef, very famous in Belgium, is known as the master of the cooking TV show, the king of "real fast food" and his name has become synonymous with delicious natural cooking. He has written many culinary books but above all he is known for presenting two daily cooking programs on Belgian national television, called Lekker Thuis (Delicious at home) and De Perfecte Keuken (The Perfect Kitchen). So you will guess that the eight participants of the smallest workshop were well waited on. “Piet Huysentruyt came to the kitchen of the European Parliament and offered them a special private show by cooking them a delicious 'fillet of beef with autumn garnish, Belgian beer and mousse line'. I was really impressed by the show - I’m interested in TV production so I really enjoyed it. He is a real master,” said Ania Kielczyk from Poland. His assistant for this occasion was Frederika Brepoels, a Belgian politician and Member of the European Parliament for Flanders (EPP-ED). The European Cookbook workshop definitely stayed true to one slogan: having fun while talking about a serious topic. Bon appétit!
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496 million Citizens of the EU represented by the European Parliament
€ 118 000 Cost per day of translation in 2006 (for 21 languages—Romanian and Bulgarian having not yet been included)
Rainy day parade It’s happening every day in our lives indirectly and since from a while we’re just ignoring this “phenomenon”. They are living within us, they are part of our daily life. The “roma problem” should not be seen as a problem. The problem are those people who aggress them and on the other hand those people who gave them to many attention by Andrei Epure
The European Youth Media Foto Team were on the streets to “catch” some real life moments through a lens. Most of those who are living in the street are not local citizens. They were coming from Eastern Europe from countries that can not offer them a life, country in witch they are aggressed daily by normal citizens or authorities. They just want to have a regular job and earn some money to assure a fine life to their family, but no one trust them because the media has created a bad image around them. Asked who can solve this problem, mr. R, answered most simply : “no one.. because we do not trust anybody anymore and we just prefer to live our life in the most easiest way possible, in the streets, singing or dancing..or just begging. What we do is not illegal. We don’t stole from anybody and the money we have are earned in the most honest way possible. We don’t care anymore about what the authorities think about us. For us is just a way of life. If they want to do something for us they should just leave us live our life”. It wasn’t a shock that
they don’t trust anybody.. the shock was coming from the authorities that are not listening to them, to their problems. They want not to be ignored anymore and to have a place to live. An apartment it would be great, and the rent should be paid half from the state resources and the other half from their income. “Let’s just make an imagination test. We are living in the streets, sleeping in the park or in a train station, we just sit down and beg for a penny, we
accept all the injuries from anyone, we don’t repost and after all, everybody thinks that we are thiefs. We want to work honestly somewhere but no one trust us. Those who stolen are people who don’t like to work and because of them we are accused for what we never do. This can not be called life.” Told mr. R also. Where are the human rights?.. What about the “no discrimination story?.. it’s in a different movie, one with fairytales and tooth fairy.
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Breaking into Radio news in the making of EU immigration policy by Agnes Emri head and a microphone – these are the signs leading us downstairs, all the way beneath the European Parliament to the recording studios. Thursday afternoon, EYMD radio workshop participants were deeply in concentrated in Radio Studio 1, over audio levels and the words of Gjovalin Nonaj. Nonaj, a virtuoso accordionist and now a Belgian citizen shared his past as an illegal immigrant in Brussels for 5 years, first playing music at the metro station Botanique, then at cafes. Nonaj was the so-called “human aspect" of the radio news
show in the making, challengingly called Breaking into Europe. The title speaks for itself: the issues at hand were policies on refugees and illegal immigration. Only a day before the workshop, on October 15th the European Council endorsed the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, making the issue as fresh as, well, the EYMD reimbursement. In a spirit of solidarity, the act aims for a better protection of Europe by controlling its borders, for the organization of legal migration in harmony with the capacity of each member country to receive immigrants, for the selective repatriation of illegal immigrants, and for building a Europe of asylum by 2010. In the planning phase of the radio project, the
positive and negative aspects of the issue were to be presented alongside commentaries and input from those not involved in the issue. Up in the glass room of the press area, the words of Nonaj, and other two previous interviewees were being edited by focused workshop participants deep in discussion on where to press the right key combinations to make the cut. Not all of the material is used, in one version - only those sentences of the speaker that started with an emphasized “so,” were kept, said workshop participant Oscar Moreno Fernandez, “with amusing results.” The topic itself is not so amusing. For an issue such as this, Oscar believes written media would be a better
You should be creative.
Now!
Just the facts very brefly: The topic is the future of europe. We have to produce a one our radio program for tomorrow. Seven groups with two persons and three minutes to do. Ok? Let’s start. You should be creative. Now! By Christian Brahmann
For our orange magazin we follow two participants of the radio workshop “United we stand” and have a closer look how they realize their program.
Andrew Farrel tries to explain the irish No to Europe
The goal of this workshop is to create a mini-documentary for the official partner of the YEMD Euradionantes in France. How do the european citizens see the EU in the next five, ten or even twenty years? And what are their feelings about Brussels? What do they expect? Thierry Backer from Germany and Andrew Farrel from Ireland are working together. Their subject is the to deal with the defeat of Lisbon in Ireland. What does this mean for the future of the EU? Because with their vote against the treaty the irish people caused a big problem which the union has to deal with. But creative?! Ok. Let’s try it like that. Andrew is irish and he votet No, but he is not against the EU. Why
don’t let him explain his thougts about that. Nice idea. But where could you do an interview with an Irish about an european subject? In an irish pub in Brussels, for sure. Thats it. In the right atmosphare just a few minutes later Andrew tries to explain why he and the majority of his country said no to this important contract. In this short interview he says that he is definatly pro europe and he is sure that his compatriots are, too. But obviously there are some problems to face right now. Two hours later it is done. Five minutes material which can easily be cut down into three. Satisfied? Yes, we tried to do something creative. Now!
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Europe! medium than spoken, because 10-20 minutes is not enough to properly tackle an issue as complex as illegal immigration. He is worried the program will be too dense. Workshop facilitator Carmen has ideas supporting just the opposite. The way she sees it, radio is a proper platform, because unlike print, radio portrays emotions through people's voices, bringing issues closer to the listeners personally. "On paper it seems too far" said Carmen. On the radio, the speaker's voice reveals more. Besides Nonaj, the news program will reveal two other voices, MEP Simon Busuttil and legal expert Philippe de Bruycher. "He's flamboyant!" said Andrew Fowler triumphantly and typed the adjective into the introduction of the script. He and Marina Ferhatovic from Sweden are hosting the news show. “I explain what I want to say and he finds the right words," Marina said about working with Andrew, who, coming from London, has the benefit of having English as his native tongue. Even so, that is not the reason he volunteered to co-host the show. "I like the sound of my voice," he confessed. As for Marina, she herself is an immigrant to the EU, having moved to Sweden with her family when she was 12 years old. “My father was a political refugee from Bosnia, not illegal, but an immigrant nevertheless.” These two young Europeans were just one part of the dynamic team. There was more going on in the halls of the building, there were reporters were getting people's opinion for the vox populi section of the show. In the press room itself, texts were being typed up to be read out on air, or maybe not. “It depends," said Oscar “there will be a commentary, but it might be too radical. In this show, we will not take sides, we will only present the case.” As for presenting the finished news show, Oscar hopes he will get
this opportunity on Friday night, at the final closing ceremony of the European Youth Media days, when all workshops will display their finished media products. He feels the need to be challenged. This seems to be the attitude of most of the workshop participants. The European youth have indeed broken into Europe. Like the talented accordian player Nonaj said approvingly upon leaving the recording studio “the future belongs to the youth."
NUMBER CRUNCHING
23
Number of official languages following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, Irish having also become an official language on 1 January 2007,
506
Possible combinations of languages, since each language can be translated into 22 others
80 000
Number of young European aged between 10-20 who submitted suggestions for the European motto. The winner was United In Diversity.
Present from Cartoon Workshop
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN MOTION Fast. Busy. Colourful. Boring. Or even funny. That is how the members of the photographic workshop “Brussels at work” saw the life in the European Parliament (EP) through their lenses BY Martina Topinková AND Petr HrnCíR
“We have tried to present what daily Brussels looks like,” says workshop participant Jaka Polutnik from Slovenia. His Bulgarian facilitator Marina Tsekova adds: “I really like the deal and the outcome of my group.” They agreed that it was a pleasure to observe the employees at work, but at the same time they felt that it is really difficult to show everything in just a two-minute presentation. After all, their workshop was a big challenge for them. Twelve members of the team were divided into four groups. Three of them were following MEPs – Members of the European Parliament. The
vox pops
fourth was trying to find out how the rest of the EP employees “function”. “We were trying to show the life of the Parliament also from the perspective of the cleaning ladies or shop assistants,” explains Marina. Describing his day, Jaka said: “I spent about one and a half hours with the Bulgarian MEP Mariela Baeva and Hannu Takkula of Finland. I was surprised how hard it was to capture all the work that’s going on in those small offices.” They all had the opportunity to speak directly with the MEPs as well as with the Euro bureaucrats. And all their research – according to their
facilitator Marina – leads to one quite surprising conclusion: “They have noticed that they are just normal working people, that their life is not that extraordinary. Everyone is really busy. They have no free time.” In spite of this, however, Jaka says: “The good thing is that they seem to be quite relaxed. And together with their assistants, love their work, they enjoy it a lot”. “They were very open and kind,” adds Anna Morawiec from Poland. One of the MEPs – Mariela Baeva – completely agrees with her. “It was a real pleasure for me,” she says. “They all behaved very professionally.” She
The European Parliament is a buzzing organism of vibrant individuals that together make events like the EYMD possible. Ever wondered what the faces behind this impressive European machinery look like? Here are a few of the people that make things happen in Bruxelles.
“THE BOSS” Name: Linda Poppe Age: 26 Nationalty: German Status: Single Title: EYMD Project Coordinator Best part of the job: The people I work with
“THE SECURITY AGENT” Name: Ludwig Willems Age: 42 Nationality: Dutch Status: Divorced Title: Security Agent Best part of the job: Working at night
“THE HALLWAY PLANT” Name: Althaea Officinalis Age: 4 years 6 months Nationality: Belgian Status: Single, but in love with the vending machine down the hall Title: Hallway Plant Best part of the job: The view
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also explains how interesting it was to talk to young people: “I wanted to exchange views with them. We discussed some economic issues including the global financial crisis and the models of economy. I was surprised how educated they are.” The access of the workshop participants was not limitless though. “The only shortcoming was that we were not allowed to take pictures in the canteen,” says Anna, explaining that the European Parliament prohibits photography in restaurants, cafeterias, and no shooting is allowed of security equipment and entrances. “Unfortuna-
tely we couldn´t go to the sport facility too because you need some kind of subscription there,” adds Anna. Alfhild Böhringer, a moderator from Germany, says: “I would just say that the EP is colourful – thanks to the people who are in a constant rush in here. In contrast, the architecture of the building is horrible – everything is just grey and you can find the long corridors with all the small rooms everywhere.” Even worse is trying to orient oneself in this splendid maze. “For me the life in the EP is fast and boring, to be honest. It is just sitting behind the computer – that is what our
guys saw,” says Alexander Mihaylov from Bulgaria. “On the other hand, the multicultural atmosphere is incredible,” he adds. This is his second year taking part in EYMD. Last year he was one of the participants. This year, he got the opportunity to be a media expert, helping the photographers. “I am trying to guide them, but some of them are real professionals and so they could guide me as well,” he points out. At last, the workshop seemed to please everybody. “I like the idea of the meeting of the people from all across the European Union to share visions,” says Marina about EYMD. And Anna ads: “It was a great experience and in fact an adventure!”
vox pops
“THE BUSTBOY” Name: Tabuyda Age: 17 Nationality: Marrocan/Belgian Status: Single Title: Kitchen Assistant Best part of the job: Chatting with my colleagues.
“THE BUREAUCRATE” Name: Phillippe Kamaris Age: 36 Nationality: German Status: Single Title: Administrator, interparliamentary delegations for non-European countries, Dictorate-General for External Policies. Best part of the job: Seeing how my work affects people in countries far away.
“THE HARDRESSER” Name: Sarah Luppens Age: 17 Nationality: Belgian Status: Single Title: Shampoo girl Best part of the job: Customer relations
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Is Parliament corrupting the media? So here we are, at the Hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels to observe the first Award Ceremony of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism. Although the atmosphere of this meeting is pleasant, beneath the surface the prize met with a huge amount of criticism from professional mediamakers. They say that we are facing an unacceptable situation when politicians are courting journalists in a manner that clashes with a cardinal rule that shapes relations between politics and the media. This golden principle is distance.
WINNERS: Television– Shirin WHEELER (BBC Record Europe), Nils FELDBALLE PETERSEN Internet – Finlandia Pete PAKARINEN for an article about illegal immigration to EU Print – dwa materialy: Niemcy Kirsten, Austria - Kirsten WÖRNLE – o pracy tlumaczy w EP, Wolfgang BÖHM Austria Radio – Mircea Radu LIPOVAN & Andreea MINZAT z Rumunii
Up to 70 journalists who won national stages of the competition came here to Brussels for the ceremony hoping to get the international award. The prize is divided into four categories: Print, Online, TV and Radio, and it is intended to recognise journalists who have dealt with major issues at a European level or have promoted a better understanding of EU policies. “The work of the European Parliament has to be observed critically but also objectively,” said Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament. “Pluralism and independence of the media is an extremely important issue for us who stand on the side of journalists. This system is essential for further democracy existence,” he added. This point of view differs from the opinion of some journalists, who say that such an award is like a bribe used by politicians in an attempt to influence the media. Chris White, a British blogger and euro reporter here in Brussels, said: “What the parliament media awards are about is catching journalists young and convincing them to write positive things about Europe in the hope of some sort of gain. Meanwhile the EU positively undermines the infrastructure of a free media industry and its economic base.” In his opinion, using taxpayers’ money, the Parliament
conducts a “massive brainwashing exercise”. We asked Maria Laura Franciosi of the European Journalism Center, one of the Prize jury members, for her comment on such critical opinion. And her answer is: no, it is not fawning or corrupting journalists. In her opinion, the media are so extremely important for the work of European institutions that it is totally obvious to give an award for the most talented and hard-working journalists. Especially when they are critical to European matters. Because then politicians know what should they improve in their work. And the prize? Except fame and the honour of being the first ever winner of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism, the winners received €5,000 each. So will they stay critical of European institutions? Shirin Wheeler, the British winner in the TV category, who works for BBC Record Europe in Brussels, believes so. “As a journalist, I absolutely believe that being a journalist it is not our job to provide propaganda for the EU institutions. It’s quite encouraging that the prize was given to us even though we make programs that are very critical of the European Union. Don’t forget that the judges were three MEP and the rest were journalists. It won’t corrupt me, but stimulate me to go further in this direction,” she adds.
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Don’t mention Macedonia „We regret that our friends from Macedonia couldn’t participate in the European Youth Media Days,“ said Anna Sulewska, board member of the EYP, in her welcome speech in the European Parliament. This innocuous sentence, seemingly unlikely to arouse controversy, evoked such indignation among officials that one of them even told her that she had made a huge faux pas. Did she? The conflict between Greece and Macedonia that began in 1991 is still active and unresolved. After the collapse of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia one of its six parts – the Socialist Republic of Macedonia - became an independent country, the Republic of Macedonia. Greece opposed the move and pointed out that there are three regions with the name Macedonia in Greek territory. Then another problem arose when the Macedonians chose a symbol referring to Alexander the Great for their flag. In response, Greece enforced an embargo on Macedonia and only removed it after an agreement was reached that Macedonia would change the flag and Constitution and accept that it
would be called the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). But that didn’t solve the delicate matter. Greece gave their neighbour an ultimatum. To put it straight, it says: we won’t allow you to start NATO and EU accession negotiations until you change your country name to – for instance – the Republic of Northern Macedonia. “We are alone. European countries don’t interrupt in this issue because they say it’s an internal problem of Greece and Macedonia,” said Branka Kostovska, a Macedonian working in Brussels for the European Journalism Centre. But why was Ania's sentence taken as impolite? Although the Constitution calls the country the Republic of Mace-
donia, there is an agreement that on the international level, this country will be called the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia - or the decidedly unsnappy acronym FYROM. “We find it humiliating but we can do nothing with it,” comments Branka. “We have no choice. If we want to develop, join EU and NATO, then we have to change our name so that Greece stops blocking the negotiations.” And until they change the country name, in the corridors of European Institutions you can call it only FYROM. What we, EYMD participants have learnt from this conflict is that the language of diplomacy can differ from the language of truth and justice.
Lost and found In every huge building there is a ‚Lost and Found‘ Service where you can search if you‘d lost something during your stay there. Who had lost and found what during the 2008 European Youth Media Days. Lets‘s see... When I lost my digital camera two days ago I felt like some part of me was gone for good. The red Samsung had been my true friend for 2 years. Then I got back to the European Parliament and some of the participants at the 2008 European Youth Media Days started taking photos of me as they found out what had happened - just trying to make me smile. In fact that was the time I realised I had lost some important subject but I‘d also found
many new friends. And those pictures they were taking were pictures of the future. Because in the new united Europe we have common future – we shall work together as a team, a huge family. In fact during the Youth Media Days many participants got their stuff stolen from the hostels and the hotel rooms. I know how they feel because they‘d probably lost not just money but precious memories and objects with their own history. I remember the way Andrew from Ireland came and started explaining ‚Just 3 minutes, man. You leave the window open, go to the bathroom and when you get out in three minutes all your money and jewels had disappeared‘. I am wondering how many people
go to the Lost and Found Service at the European Parliament every day, searching for lost wallets and laptops. The last picture I made with my camera was the picture of two girls from the EYMD 2008 in front of the Manneken Pis – the world known symbol of Brussels. Last night, during the Brussels safari, together with the same two pretty ladies and some other really cool guys we were looking for the Jannine Pis and then having photos in front of the statue of the small peeing boy again. So just a day after I had lost something, I found now my Europe should look like – all the smiling (young) people that had found their way to live together, work together, have fun together.
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Where the news born:
The Press room During the European Media Days we are working on the EP corridors, in the oficcies but maybe the press room is the most important place of our work. I was reporting participants working in the press room about their topics, about their experiences in the press room and in their work. Sophie ten Bokkel Huinink from Amsterdam and Ourrania Tsimpouli from Athens are working in the Europolitan workshop. Sophie: I find very useful this room, because only here is wifi in the EP Parliament. Out of that I can work here calmly, there is science but also live, because there are lots of journalists. It is interesting to see how work the professional journalists. Ourrania: I think my topic is very interesting. I am working for the Europolitan session and I am writing now an
article about my daily life at home, so about the daily life of wemen in Athen. I am studying now at the university but I am also working in a radio estate. I find this room cool, that s would be great if we would have such a room at home. Our work is much more easier with these devices. Biljana Prijic came from Bologna, Italy: I haven t got a personal computer so for me this room is very useful. At home I am working for a pr agency and as free journalist. Unfortunately, at home there aren t such a rooms,
also it makes easier our work. I could imagine to work in the EP for a while. It is funny to work in one room with professional EU-journalists. The writing is much more easier in this atmosphere. And what about the professional journalists? I asked a woman, who is working as journalist in the EP. She said, that she is happy that there are many talented young journalist in Europe. But is is a pity, that we also use the press room, because she can’t work in such a mass.
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SAFARI
Have you ever felt lost with lots of people? That‘s just how I felt standing with a large group in front of the Parliament at nine o’clock after a busy day. It was difficult, but finally I managed to find my safari group. It was the „City of Squares“ tour, which included seeing the Gothic town hall in the famous Grand Place. But first of all we wanted to eat something because we didn’t have any time during the day. We were busy with our work. So everybody ran into a kebab shop. After the dinner we began the walk: the royal theatre, the opera, museums, the national library, many other places, and many beers. The mood was getting better and better. We stopped feeling the heavy rain of Brussels and the cold weather. We were just walking, laughing and admiring the buildings. On one square it was interesting to see buildings from the 16th century along with the modern architecture. Like in many European cities, Brussels’ cultural memory is mixed. In one place there are monuments from different centuries. After some drinks people began opening up to one another. For example, I met a Slovakian participant and we were able to talk peacefully about the bad Hungarian-Slovakian relations. I think that’s the spirit of the European Youth Media Days: we can do what our politicians cannot: talk about problems without aggression.
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The Orange Brainstorm Orange in the maze Our first meeting was on the floor, in the corridor of the European Parliament. Here we started our crazy ORANGE adventure. At first some of us were a bit scared. Really! Why? Because the eyes of the journalists should be everywhere, and because the journalist should be better informed about everything than anybody else. And we...hmm, should I reveal this secret to you? OK, I will. We felt as if we were in a huge maze when walking the hallways and corridors of the EP. I'm sure that a lot of people who work here will remember people running around, asking: “Where is the
room 003?!”. Sometimes, during our brainstorming, somebody would even go to drink coffee and...simply not come back. He was lost. But even a lost Orange reporter eavesdrops and peeps.
You are now holding ORANGE MAGAZINE in your hands and you are reading about everything that happened during the EYMD 2008. But can you imagine how much fun we had when we while preparing this?
Orange Express Is it possible to make an event magazine in only two days? As you see, it is! We had a lot of enthusiasm, so many ideas, so little time and we did it. We had contact with all participants, we described their workshops, and we observed with attention the nightlife of Brussels in order to make a report. As you see, even if we were dancing, we
were looking. In our headquarters, the room 003, we had a real brainstorming. A floor and a desk covered with peaces of papers, with ideas and plans, the sound of our keyboards and a lot of coffee - this is how our room looked like. “It was a real challenge. I loved it, the work, the atmosphere - everything! And I hope to be back next year”- said Aleksander Krastev who works in Bulgarian TV. “Working in Orange team brought me a lot of ideas which I will use in my work”- added Radoslav Hristov who works in a daily newspaper “Top News”, also in Bulgaria. Kuba and Ania, who were our coordinators, said at the beginning: “If you want the most crazy workshop of EYMD, you have to chose Orange. We can now affirm that this is the truth. So see you next time, - the Orange team!
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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 YOUTH MEDIA DAYS This edition of Orange Magazine was written and produced during the European Youth Media Days which took place between the 15th and the 17th of October 2008 in the European Parliament, Brussels. During this second annual gathering of some of the most talented young journalists, photographers, graphic designers, organizers, editors and speakers from all of the 27 EU member countries, 200 selected participants were asked to share their visions, and most importantly, to work together across borders and languages. The event consisted of various workshops, covering all aspects of modern media production, from classical radio to new media, as well as panel discussions, seminars and of course parties. In this unique atmosphere, filled with sparkling ideas and smooth cooperation, tomorrow’s young journalists literally turned the European Parliament on its head, presenting politicians and euro-bureaucrats with a true spectacle. Thanks to the enthusiasm of both participants and organizers, the European Youth Press and the European Parliament, the result was a genuine European experience. Through creativity and inspiration a new generation of journalists learned how to produce tomorrow’s European media. All of the projects can be found on www.youthmediadays.eu. Hope to see you next year!
Orange team This Orange was made by the international crew of young journalists participating in the European Youth Media Days in Brussels, October 2008. Crew contained people from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and United Kingdom. All articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of the magazine.
Publishers line: Orange Magazine European Youth Press, rue de la Tourelle 23,BE-1040, Brussels, Belgium Editors in chief: Anna Sulewska, Jakub Górnicki
Proofreading: Robin Ash Photos by: Thomas Alboth Martina Topinkova Monica Monte Jan Dabkowski Pietro Naj-Oleari Brecht Soehen
Layout: Dumitru Iovu
Agnes Zsofia Emri
Alexander Krastev
Andrei Epure
Christian Brahmann
David Michael Barnwell
Dimitru Iovu
Filip Jurzyk
Jakub Gornicki
Jean Massiet
Karolina Przybysz
Martina Topinkova
Petr Hrncir
Radoslav Hristov
Robin Ash
Tressia Boukhors
Veronika Szandtner