Journalistic Craft for Neighbourhood

Developing knowledge-based European journalism relating to Europe’s neighbours, through educational activities delivered by the Natolin Campus of the College of Europe.

The project’s overall goal is to strengthen knowledge-based journalism and the development of a wide range of professional skills. This includes reaching out to journalists, communication and media centers, freelancers, as well as other multipliers (employees and representatives of, inter alia, non-governmental organisations, think-tanks, public institutions or academic and research centers, that deal with the media, journalism, and related topics) who are located in both EU and ENP countries. We want to train all those stakeholders in reliable, professional, and data-driven reporting.

Such reporting also needs to encompass and appreciate the different political realities, and national characteristics of, various EU and ENP countries. We will therefore stress topics such as regional ethnography, relations between the EU and ENP. With this in mind, we aim to deepen the project participants’ knowledge on topics such as:

• the EU’s neighbours
• the historical, cultural, and environmental backgrounds of selected regions
• EU institutions
• the mutual relationship between the EU and ENP
• the state of the media sector in selected regions

Much of this training will be completed through digital tools such as e-learning courses.

The action shall be carried out at the following location: EU, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries (South and East), Poland (Natolin Campus of the College of Europe). It is planned that, during the Pilot phase, there will be 150 direct beneficiaries (divided up between the EU, ENP-East and the ENP-South countries).

Our specific objectives:

• Deepen knowledge on EU-neighbours and the environmental backgrounds of selected ENP regions, as well as EU institutions and EU-ENP mutual relations, including the state of media sector in selected regions,
• Accompany journalists in translating theoretical knowledge into practical stories through stationary workshops (accompanied by study visits and field trainings) and followed up by country-based assignments
• Develop a network of journalists to exchange expert know-how between EU and ENP journalists, experts, gauging and reflecting the ‘true’ public opinion in ENP states.​

Provisional timeframe:

Initial registration of interested participants
December 2018 / January 2019

Launch of the e-learning courses *
April/June 2019

Launch of the formal registration procedure
in progress

Courses completed, tests submitted
July/August 2019

Workshops in Poland
August 2019

Follow-up assignments
August/November 2019

* specific courses will be released and made available to the JCN platform users gradually. Each time we will inform all users that a new course has just been launched, relevant information will be also placed on our project website.

Knowledge based courses:

• Disinformation in the media
• Open-data and investigative journalism
• Multimedia journalism
•  Value-based and conflict-sensitive reporting
• Monetisation, EU funding and financial sustainability

Optional courses on the EU

(elaborated under the project E-Platform for Neighbourhood, developed by the College of Europe, Natolin in 2015 – 2017 and funded by the EU under the ENI instrument), inter alia:

• Anti-Corruption
• Human Rights Protection
• Integrated Border Management and Migration Policies
• Lobbying and Legislative Procedures
• Policy Coordination and Decision-Making for EU Affairs
• Fund-Raising Skills
• Policy Dialogue