June 30 - July 3, 2017, the Summer School for Media Literacy for students of the secondary school (grades 9-11) was organized by the Academy of Ukrainian Press and the Representative Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine. 26 senior high school students and 6 teachers from Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Lugansk and Poltava regions met together to improve critical thinking skills, learn the fundamentals of journalistic activity, and implement this knowledge in their own projects.
The event took place in a picturesque place near Kiev - the ethnographic complex "Ukrainian Village".
On the first day, the participants met with trainers: Valeriy Ivanov, AUP president, Anna Shevchenko, journalist and media teacher, Volodymyr Zemlianyi, media coach and Andriy Yurychko, media coach, assistant of the Periodical Press Department, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
Kateryna Bilotserkivets, project coordinator of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine, told participants about the Foundation's work and the opportunities it provides. Andriy Yurychko introduced the main stages of interview to participants: preparation and actual interview, which in turn also consists of several stages - greetings, the main part, the ending. In addition, the coach remarked: “The final result of a journalist's work is an information product. If a journalist does not give an information product, he becomes a writer”.
Valeriy Ivanov, President of the Academy of Ukrainian Press, said: “Checking information is the main task of a journalist. A professional journalist devotes 2/3 of his time to checking information. One cannot neglect this process”. President of AUP shared with the American saying about the main point of a journalist's work: “If your mother said she loves you - check it out ...”
Hanna Shevchenko told about the purpose and idea of the school newspaper, its target audience, possible sections and topics, a concept that would interest readers. “Do not be afraid to go beyond. This is not a school administration report. It's for you, from you, about you”.
On the first day, the participants formed two editorial groups and attended a press conference with Volodymyr Rizun, radio journalist, Director of the Institute of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. Participants learned the opinion of Volodymyr Volodymyrovych on the standards of the interview: “A person coming to you at the meeting must know the topic you will be discussing. You also have to prepare for this meeting as a journalist. Because the person you communicate with feels the level of your preparation. If the interviewee will notice its low level, then you’ll be treated not seriously, as incompetent. I do not give an interview when I understand that it will be mounted, because the culture of editing among some journalists is low. And again, when a journalist turns on a voice recorder, I warn that I also turn on my own, which makes it impossible to distort information. Ethical things are deeply based on all the standards of the profession. The main thing is to love people. You cannot write about people, if you are afraid of them, avoid, do not love”. Volodymyr Rizun also noted that journalism is a very young profession, in the sense that it belongs to young people: smart and energetic.
The next day, participants had just two meetings with highly respected guests. Gabrielle Baumann, Head of the Representative Office, Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine, and Serhiy Tomilenko, Head of the National Association of Journalists in Ukraine (NJU) arrived there. Ms. Baumann told not only about the Foundation's work, but also shared her impressions about Ukraine: “I chose Ukraine because I was always interesting in Eastern Europe. The Fund cooperates with many countries, and at first I worked in Russia, so I knew Russian well. Five years ago I came to Ukraine and I never regretted it. I learned Ukrainian in almost a year period, and I do not believe that this is a dialect of Russian, as sometimes claimed. So, maybe grammar is similar to Russian, but the vocabulary is completely different. In fact, Ukraine is not Russia”.
Serhiy Tomilenko shared professional secrets with the young participants. He spoke about Western standards of journalistic work, strengths of the profession, protection of journalists’ rights in Ukraine. In addition, high school students learned about the mission of the National Association of Journalists of Ukraine - the largest voluntary union, the membership of which is high up to 19,000! This association provides legal, medical, and material assistance. The current priority is to help journalists-migrants and military correspondents in the ATO zone, or in captivity. Who if not journalists would care about themselves, worry about their needs?
"There are journalists who abuse their rights, but how to deal with this? Some politicians are trying to narrow down the rights of journalists or allow the state to arrest such journalists only on the basis of the official's opinion. We, as Association of Journalists, are opposed to repression, we are for discussion. Journalists’ mission is to cover, because we are taking up events through the eyes of journalists”, - said the Head of the National Association of Journalists.
The third day was spent in the preparation of materials for newspapers. At the end of the day, an exciting excursion took place in the ethnographic complex “Ukrainian Village”. Participants got acquainted with many household items in the ancient Ukrainian huts. Each hut has its own interesting history, since it was moved from different regions of Ukraine and reproduced according to the canons. Perhaps among you somebody did not know that the flower pineappleweed (Matricaria discoidea) was imported to Ukraine from America by chance.
The last day everyone expected for when in the end there will be a printed version of the projects over which everyone had been working for four days. That time passed quickly, because the participants were waiting for another tour – to the “First Business” Channel. Twenty-four hours of news blocks about events in the economic life of companies and markets of Ukraine are aired on the TV channel “First Business”, which enables viewers to always keep up to date with the main events.
Gabrielle Baumann, Head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Kateryna Bilotserkivets, project coordinator of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, visited the excursion.
Finally, having received the newspapers “PROSTOSLOVO” and “Paper Plane”, in which a lot of efforts were made, and the materials of which were the first for majority, participants heaved a sigh of relief and pride. Each participant also received a certificate. It's nice that for someone, this school has become crucial in choosing the future profession.
Газета "Паперовий літак", № 1, 3 липня 2017 року
Скачано: 194, розмір: 6.7 MB, дата: 06.Jul.2017
Газета "ПРОСТОСЛОВО", № 1, 3 липня 2017 року
Скачано: 188, розмір: 3.8 MB, дата: 06.Jul.2017
