Youth media for Europe

The Youth Media for Europe initiative was European Movement Ireland’s first experience of a Youth Democracy project – and it was a uniquely rewarding one.

Youth Media for Europe was an all-island initiative supported by a partnership of organisations, including ourselves, European Movement Ireland and Irish Youth Media Development from the Republic of Ireland; Old Museum Arts Centre and Youth Action Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland; and of course, Léargas.

The objective of the project was to recruit and train a team of young people between the ages of 17 and 25 from all over the island of Ireland who would undergo intensive media and journalism training to become the official online youth correspondents for the European Parliament elections of 2009. The goal of the project was to empower this team of young people to provide a genuine youth perspective and analysis on the elections.

After an intensive selection process, we selected the final team of youth correspondents from over 150 applications. These young people were then invited to participate in a two-day media and journalism training course in Dublin, which took place in the Google headquarters. Following this training, the team of young people set out on the campaign trail as an official youth press corps, reporting on the European elections for their own European Parliament constituency. We helped and facilitated the team in every way we could, and they enjoyed full access to press conferences, political debates and other events. The team reported online to a dedicated blog where they documented their experiences and posted regular reports, including video reports.

Ultimately, the goal of the project was not just to channel the youth perspective on the elections, giving a voice to young people all over the island of Ireland, but also to create a popular forum that would engage a much wider youth audience. We hoped that the Youth Media for Europe project would have a multiplier effect, and would reach out beyond the group of young people that directly participated. We hoped for a galvanising effect, allowing for younger generations all over the island of Ireland to become more active and empowered by an understanding of their political environment, the mass media, and their role as active citizens.

One of our integral goals with Youth Media for Europe was to ensure that the youth participants had the opportunity to become actively engaged in their community through youth-to-youth outreach. Members of the team met with youth groups in various places around the country to speak to other young people about their experiences. In the final phase of the project, a core team of the journalists also undertook a process of reflection and analysis as they put together their youth report. This report documented the experiences of the journalists, and in particular their findings and recommendations for both young people and stakeholders. The Youth Media for Europe report is available online . We launched this report in February in European Union house, where a panel discussed the issue of youth engagement with media and politics. This report was disseminated to politicians and stakeholders in Ireland to ensure that the recommendations of the young people were widely heard.

Youth Media for Europe was a valuable experience for us on so many levels. As a successful Youth Democracy project, our organisation had the opportunity to develop a programme that would have the potential to mark the beginning of a movement. For the young people involved, Youth Media for Europe offered opportunities that even we never envisioned at the beginning. One of our ejournalists represented Ireland at the Swedish Presidency Conference on the Future of EU Cooperation in the Youth Field. Other Youth Media for Europe journalists attended the European Economic and Social Committee press officers’ conference in Brussels, and one of our journalists even attended the press event welcoming US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Dublin!

European Movement Ireland would like to thank all of our partners, and especially our Project Officer in Léargas, Lorraine Gilligan, who was always on hand to offer her support to help us maximise the creative potential of Youth Media for Europe.

You can see the reports of the Youth Media for Europe journalists at www.youthmediaforeurope.com.

Contact

billie@europeanmovement.ie