M100 Young European Journalists Workshop 2024
LIVE JOURNALISM:
Fake News and Disinformation in Election Campaigns
7 – 12 September 2024, Potsdam, Germany
(Arrival 6 September, Departure 13 September)
In September 2024, the M100 Young European Journalists Workshop (M100YEJ) will take place for the 20th time. Under the topic “Live Journalism: Fake News and Disinformation in Election Campaigns“, we are inviting 15-20 young journalists from all over Europe to Potsdam to discuss a topical issue with experts and to deepen their journalistic knowledge through practical and theoretical exercises. The workshop will also allow participants to learn about the different conditions and challenges for journalism in different political and social systems and to exchange and network with journalists from all over Europe.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, we want not only to impart theoretical and practical knowledge, but also to put journalism on stage!
On the evening of 11 September, six participants will perform a public reporter slam in Potsdam on the topic of “Disinformation in Election Campaigns”. In ten-minute performances, the journalists will tell entertaining and pointed stories about disinformation and elections from their daily work as reporters. This is all the more exciting as, in the super election year 2024, not only are there around 80 important elections around the world (not least the US elections on 5 November), but also state elections have just taken place in Thuringia and Saxony, and Brandenburg’s state elections are due to take place on 22 September.
With a reporter slam we want to give the audience a positive image of the journalistic profession in these times of crisis and war, make journalism accessible and interesting and give the audience a positive image of journalism and its “makers”.
In addition, the performing journalists are not only enabled to present themselves and their work at live journalistic events such as reporter slams, but also to present their stories in editorial pitches in a more pointed manner. In this way, we are not only supporting an international trend, but also helping to change and improve the perception of journalism. Especially in these times when journalism is under pressure from many sides, when the image of the media continues to decline, which also has an enormous negative impact on democracy, we need to find new, creative ways to strengthen journalism and democracy. The public reporter slam of the 20th M100Young European Journalists Workshop aims to contribute to this.
About Live Journalism
The first live journalism show took place in California/USA in 2009. Seven years later, the editorial team of the Finnish daily newspaper Helsinki Sanomat staged a live journalism show for the first time in Europe and organised the first live journalism conference in 2022. Live journalism is a stage show with real journalists who perform their work in front of a live audience in a vivid, moving and entertaining way. In recent years, live journalism shows have taken place in many European countries, including Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania and Spain. The shows attract people of all ages and educational backgrounds and fill entire cinemas and theatres. They bring the audience closer to journalism and the people behind it, motivating them to recognise the value of journalism and to pay for it.
Why is this important?
Trust in traditional media has been declining for years. In addition, the younger generations’ consumption of newspapers and news programmes from professional media companies is declining dramatically. They prefer to use social media, where their user behaviour means they only receive the news and opinions that the algorithm deems interesting and relevant to them – their view of the world and therefore their horizons are narrowing and they are more susceptible to propaganda and misreporting. And, conversely, they suspect independent media of being a lying press. The fatal consequences are obvious: it affects our democracy, our society and our future.
That is why it is so important to reach out to young people and give them a different image of journalism. The many successful, celebrated and sold-out live shows of recent years prove that live journalism works.
By making all facets of the media and its actors visible on stage, live journalism turns journalism into an experience and changes media consumption in the long term. Journalism becomes a multi-sensory experience that addresses many social groups.
Journalists who present their work at live events also enjoy their work more. They come into personal contact with the audience – their readers, listeners, viewers – and get a feel for what makes their target group tick. It makes media and media work visible, tangible and understandable and reduces the gap between media creators and media consumers. People who have turned their backs on traditional media are brought closer to journalistic stories and their authors.
Together with the Potsdam-based organisation Headliner (consisting of Jochen Markett and Christine Liehr), which has been organising highly successful live journalism shows in Germany and other European countries for years, we will prepare the M100YEJ participants for the show, working with them on their texts, presentations and performances. The six best slams will be selected in an internal competition and performed in public on the evening of 11 September in Potsdam. The live programme will be accompanied by musical acts, which will also add to the entertainment value of the show. At the end, the audience will vote for the best performance and choose the winner.
On 12 September, the young journalists will attend the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium, where the best performance on the topic of “Disinformation in Election Campaigns” will again be presented.
Please find the application call and requirements here.
