The Institute of Research and Training on European Affairs-I.R.T.E.A., as a Leading Partner and in cooperation with 5 European Organizations, implemented the European Project “EUnited in journalism” which was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
The project concerned the mobility of 44 young people from 6 countries (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, North Macedonia and Greece) on different aspects of journalism. The programme took place in the city of Chania from the 17th of June until the 22nd of June.
During the programme, the participants had the chance to get familiar with basic journalism ethics, in order to develop a more critical thinking, through interactive workshops.
Through the youth exchange, the participants were briefed about the main channels of information, and were educated, in an informal manner, of how to create their own news broadcasts through free platforms, utilizing editing software.
With the end of the workshops, the participants had the chance to be a journalist, with a particular structure, with their own logo, and their own broadcasting channel. The main subjects that participants focused on were the Environment, Culture, and daily political news. Through this task the participants, had the chance to simulate the duties of a journalist, despite the language and cultural barriers.
Through the programme the participants had the chance to meet people from different cultures and social standards, and have the chance to exchange and debate about journalism and other topics that aroused through the programme.
The main objective of the programme was the training based on non-formal in journalism matters, in the development of critical thought and in the technological aspects of journalism. During the programme, through conversations with the participants, the fact of the high percentage of fake news occurred, this topic was addressed by the interactive workshops of the participants in the aspects of proper research and the crosscheck of sources, before publishing or republishing news.
Finally, during the programme the participants were informed aboutopportunities of the ERASMUS+ , European Solidarity Corps (ESC), the voluntary programmes of the European Union and about the advantages that occur through the acquisition of the YouthPass certificate.
