M100 Young European Journalists Workshop 2023

Reporting on Climate Change – and its Significance for Democracy

10 – 14 September 2023, Potsdam
(Arrival 9 September, departure 15 September)

Climate change poses new challenges not only to society, politics and the economy, but also to journalism. Climate journalism, until recently a marginal phenomenon, is increasingly moving into the focus of media houses and editorial offices.

Climate change is one of the greatest threats of the 20th century, affecting all aspects of our lives: society, the economy, supply chains, work, agriculture, health, food, mobility. It is fuelling fear, insecurity, social division, lack of freedom, migration, poverty – and thus the health and resilience of democracy around the world. In this context, high-quality, fact-based and objective journalism is particularly important. How we report on climate change, its consequences and societal options for action is crucial to addressing this major threat.
Meanwhile, voices are being raised that journalism needs to change in order for this to happen. This is because journalism, especially crisis reporting, has traditionally focused on covering events rather than processes. Climate change, however, is a process for which newsrooms often struggle to find the right images. More and more newsrooms are setting up climate editors and producing climate features.
Together with the participants, we want to develop what this new journalism can look like, based on successful examples. We want to examine the quality of climate reporting in different European countries, look at it from different perspectives and work out criteria for successful climate journalism, taking into account the conditions in the different European home countries of the participants. One day of the workshop will introduce participants to investigative research on environmental risks and impacts at the international level.

At the end of the workshop, the results will be summarised and presented by the M100YEJ participants at the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium on 14 September in Potsdam.

Application requirements:
Young journalists between 20 and 30 years old from Europe, including the Eastern Partnership countries, can apply with a text in English on the following topic:
● What is the importance of covering climate change in your newsroom / working environment?
● Give a brief assessment of the importance of climate change reporting in your country.
● What is your own assessment of the impact of climate change on journalism? Should journalism change because of climate change – or not? Please justify your decision.

Application:
Please send your text (max. 3,000 characters incl. spaces), your CV (with date of birth) and a short motivation letter explaining why you want to apply for this workshop in one PDF file (max. 2 MB) to: application(at)m100potsdam.org.
The deadline for applications is Friday, 30 June 2023, 24:00 hrs (CET).

Only applications in English will be considered.
We will inform you of our decision no later than 10 July.
M100 will cover the costs of travel, accommodation and daily meals.

The M100YEJ takes place in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. It is sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government.