21 young journalists from 17 European countries at the M100YEJ on Fake News and Disinformation
Potsdam, 29 August 2022. “Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I have seen more horrors in Telegram chats than I could have ever imagined”, writes the Latvian journalist Paula Anna Koškina in her application essay. In it, she gives insights into her day-to-day work in the foreign editorial department of the public broadcaster Latvian Television: “The obligation to report on the events there has also affected me. In the beginning, I didn’t have much time to process the information that was coming in – my work took priority. It was only when I went home that the emotions of the daily events swelled up inside me. At night, I woke up about every hour and checked to see if the Ukrainian president was still alive”.
Paula Anna is one of 21 young journalists from 17 European countries who are participating in this year’s M100 Young European Journalists Workshop (M100YEJ), selected from more than 70 applicants. It takes place from 10 to 15 September 2022 at the premises of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Berlin and Potsdam-Sanssouci.
Under the title “Journalistic Independence in Times of War – Dealing with Fake News and Disinformation” the M100YEJ deals again this year with a current and enormously important topic – not only for journalists, but for all segments of the population. Because disinformation and fake news have an impact on our society, politics, economy, democracy, freedom of opinion and the press, and on our security.
This is illustrated not least by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February this year, which was prepared for long in advance by the Russian side through targeted false information. Here, parallel to the military war with all its suffering and horror, an embittered information war is also being waged, a war for images, emotions, sovereignty of interpretation and truth.
Some of the 21 young journalists already have experience with war reporting. “In 2020, I was supposed to work as a journalist in a war zone in my home country”, reported the Armenian journalist Nane Manukyan in her application text. “There I came across an enormous amount of misinformation and fake news, which made me realise how important fact checking and journalistic objectivity and integrity are. Especially after the war, I realised that lies and unverified information for readers can cost human lives, relationships and reputation (both of journalists and of a particular country).”
The Dutch journalist Tim Kohnen writes how difficult it is to make sure that a source is 100% trustworthy. “The emergence of fake news and disinformation, for example in the EU about the war in Ukraine or in the USA about abortion, puts additional pressure on journalists.”
The importance of mental health in journalism will also be covered in the course of the six-day workshop. With the rise of deliberately disseminated false information on the Internet, the pressure on editorial offices and journalists is also growing. For this, M100 cooperates with the JJS, Junge Journalistinnen und Journalisten Schweiz (Association of Jung Journalists, Switzerland), whose board member Karin A. Wenger talks to the participants about their own experiences and problems in a side-kick on mental health.
Following Experts on fake news and disinformation are leading the different workshop tools: Caroline Lindekamp, Head of Project “noFake”, CORRECTIV, Eva Wackenreuther, Head of Factchecking Department AFP Austria, Agnieszka Maria Walorska, entrepreneur and founder Creative Construction, Sophie Eyears, Strategic Partner Manager, News Integrity Europe META, Maximilian Hofmann, Head of News & Current Affairs, Deutsche Welle as well as Christiane Hoffmann, Deputy Spokesperson of the German Federal Government. In addition, Ukrainian journalists Anastasiia Ivantsova, Roman Melnyk and Anna Romandash, who focus primarily on Russian fake news and disinformation related to the war in their home country and are all M100 alumni, will present their respective projects and talk about the challenges and goals of their work. German journalist Victoria Graul, also an M100 alumna, is the founder of the podcast “Digga Fake” and will give an introduction to the overall topic.
The highlight of the workshop is the participation in the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium on 15 September in Potsdam, where the participants can present their results and share their impressions and experiences with the more than 60 top-class participants of the conference.
In the European Year of Youth, the M100YEJ aims to help make the voices of young people from all over Europe (EU and Eastern Partnership countries) more heard, to support them in their professional development in the field of journalism, to provide them with new skills, to network them with important key figures from the industry across Europe and thus to improve their opportunities and career prospects.
Further information about the participants and workshop trainer can be found here.
An overview of the programme can be found here.
The M100 Young European Journalists Workshop is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government.
