22 March 2024. Congratulations to Dimitrios Theologidis, participant of the M100YEJ 2023 from Greece, who together with his colleague Marina Hadjikyriacou from Cyprus won the “Jour-You” award of the international citizen journalism competition for young people organised by EKO Greece. With their article “Divided Cyprus in a united Europe”, (original Greek version) they drew attention to the Cyprus conflict in the context of peace journalism and prevailed against eight Greek competitors. In their text, Dimitrios and Marina show the contrast between the EU and its divided member states, whose problems are ignored.
“It was vital for us to include interviews and human stories coming from people from both of the Cypriot communities,” explains Dimitrios. “After all, Peace Journalism does not focus on dipoles (us and them) and it is not satisfied with the sources of the authorities, as police or the state. Instead, it puts emphasis on the voices of NGOs, minorities and other underrepresented groups, as refugees and immigrants. Last, but not least, Peace Journalism emphasizes on the consequences and the possible solutions, rather than the problem itself”.
The article brings visibility to an underreported issue, that affects all aspects of life and it gives voice to the people of Cyprus to share their stories, Marina explains: “Our island is still under occupation today and our rights as citizens are being violated daily. Our idea was prompted by the illegal opening of the Famagusta ‘ghost town’ to celebrate the 37th declaration of the illegal state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the occupied North”.
The methodology of the two included researching open source information and reading newspaper archives to be exact, when it comes to facts and details. Moreover, the interviews shed light on the stories of people who survived the war and overcame its consequences, but go through the impact of those every day.
Dimitrios Theologidis is a graduate student of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Currently, he is completing his Master’s degree in International Relations and Strategic Studies at Panteion Univeristy of Social and Political Sciences in Athens, Greece. Marina Hadjikyriacou is a senior student of Journalism and Mass Communications at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
