The Drum Beat 147 - Young People's Media Network

The Young People's Media Network (YPMN) in Europe and Central Asia - A Partnership Initiative

Proposes to:

• link youth media projects for information-exchange
• connect them with training opportunities
• organise mentoring relationships and internships with established media
• provide access to small-business loans
• establish awards for outstanding media products

Potential activities include an annual media fair bringing together young people from throughout the region, as well as regular training seminars and opportunities for internships and education abroad. Above all, the network will aim to support efforts designed to ensure that young people are able to take part in the information revolution, and overcome the obstacles which are blocking their attempts to develop worthwhile radio, television, Internet or print projects.

The network is designed in 2 stages. The first, already completed, consisted of a brainstorming in Amsterdam in Dec 2001 convening representatives of major international organisations and NGOs currently working with young media practitioners in this region. The brainstorming was hosted by the European Cultural Foundation and provided an opportunity to share ideas about how to work together. The Amsterdam Brainstorming Report, finalised in Feb 2002, sets the goals of the YPMN and gives recommendations on how the network can be established. The second phase of establishing the Network started in Feb 2002. An informal Task Force with members from the Amsterdam meeting and a specially hired consultant are now working on the shape of the future network, in conjunction with young people's media groups.

BRAINSTORMING & DEVELOPING YPMN

The following themes emerged during the brainstorming, and may be considered essential concepts on which the network will be based.

a. The network should facilitate different kinds of support to young people's media projects, to help them realise their potential as agents of social change. "Two of the most important components in building a democracy are participation of young people in society and a free media." [Denise Searle, UNICEF]

b. The network must add value to the work of its members. The network should provide the means for young people to learn from one other horizontally, communicating across geographical and mental borders. Enhanced communication and synergy should be a primary goal of the network...

c. The network must help make space for youth media. "It is incredibly important to recognize that truly youth-directed media is an exercise in letting go." [Dale Rutstein, UNICEF Albania] 'Letting go' may mean accepting lower - or simply different - production standards, or distributing material that would not necessarily be to the taste of the average adult...

d. The network must provide an opportunity for dialogue. "We want to learn from each other so we can send a clear message to our people that we all have the same problems. We are the same people." [Rade Vrcakovski, Youth participant, Macedonia]

The message of the youth participants was clear: "more training, more equipment, more opportunities to produce better programming are great, but what we want most of all is a chance to connect with each other."

Click here - for the temporary site of the YPMN. For more information contact Chris Schuepp cschuepp@unicef.org or Robert Cohen rcohen@unicef.org

Click here for PDF version of the Summary Report of the Brainstorming Meeting in Amsterdam, December 2001.

Click here for a PDF version of the Intermedia Report on the development of the Network - "Young People & Media in Central & Eastern Europe, The CIS & Baltic States"

YPMN SURVEYS

Youth survey - assesses the needs, preferences, and perceptions of youth currently working in media organisations.

Media Experts Questionnaire - assesses the attitudes, perceptions, insights and experiences of media personnel in regards to youth in the media and youth working with media.

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YOUTH MEDIA PROJECTS

- examples of initiatives

Troc! Say It! - Albania - this TV programme gives young people a voice for their ideas about children’s rights and efforts to resolve problems related to rights-violations. Troc is based on video news packages filmed and written by 13- to 18-year-olds in 11 Youth Video Bureaus around the country. 70 young reporters are in charge of story selection, research, filming, reporting, interviewing, scripting, and narrating the stories. The young reporters receive up to 6 days of formal training each year that includes composing and recording a stable video picture; selecting a good TV story; conducting a TV interview and writing a TV script or voice-over segment. The young reporters informally adopted the slogan "Changing the World with Children and Young People!"; it is now shown between segments. Click here for a list of stories produced by Troc Contact Dale Rustein drutstein@unicef.org OR The Young Reporters shkruajtroc@yahoo.com

Next Generation Child Rights TV Series - Macedonia - a key feature of this 18-episode TV serial is the participation of young people in the development of the episodes. UNICEF's National Ambassador, hip-hop singer Rade Vrcakovski-Vrcak (a 20-year-old) developed the script together with the host of the show (a 19-year-old). Each episode focuses on one Macedonian city: a child presents the features of the city and then the host visits elementary and secondary schools to discuss specific child rights, such as those featured in the Convention for the Rights of Children. The mayor of each city talks about his or her childhood and youth and responds to children's questions about community-based activities for children and youth. Contact Rade Vrcakovski-Vrcak vrcaklab@yahoo.com

TV Studio Televeziri & Animated Drawings - Georgia - In an effort to promote reflection among children on themes central to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this project enabled children to express themselves about the CRC and then to participate in animating and dubbing their own drawings. The pictures the children sent to the local television station were made into short film for TV broadcast in Georgia, entitled "Televeziri". The main heroes in the story were the characters drawn by the children. Contact Nodar Begiashvili nodarbeg@hotmail.com OR Maya Kurtsikidze mkurtsikidze@unicef.org

Good Morning Afghanistan - Afghanistan - this daily radio news programme, produced and presented by young Afghan journalists, began broadcasting Feb 25, 2002 on Radio Afghanistan. The show is transmitted to 75 percent of the country, and is broadcast in both Dari and Pashto. To prepare the journalists for the programme, the Baltic Meida Center produced a set of broadcast guidelines in Dari, Pashto, and English. Training also included a series of courses and workshops. Contact Charles Fletcher charles.fletcher@bmc.dk

Abracadabra Contest - Romania - the Global Movement for Children (GMFC), in collaboration with PRO TV, organised a contest in Dec 2000 called "The Best Interview" to draw children's attention to their rights. In order to participate, children were asked to interview local officials, teachers, and doctors on rights-related issues. They were then instructed to send the videotape of their interview to Bucharest to enter the contest. PRO TV informed children about the contest through UNICEF cartoons on the theme of children's rights, which they presented for 2 months. Due to the TV station's financial problems, Abracadabra was discontinued before a prize could be offered. Contact Codruta Hedesiu chedesiu@unicef.org

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Many thanks to Chris Schuepp for his assistance with this issue.

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