Activity Details (ID# 12646)

Activity Synopsis

The main objective of the seminar was to explain the legal European standards on the question of freedom of the press and freedom of expression and information, and to inform about professional tools concerning the coverage of democratic elections, taking into account the content of Recommendation No. (99) 15 of the Council of Europe on media coverage of election campaigns. 

After a brief introduction of the local partner Donesk Memorial and participants, trainers presented a brief overview of the main activities of the Council of Europe in the field of mass media and media legislation in Ukraine.

First part of the programme was a lecture on the basic principles of covering elections with reference to the recommendation R (99) 15 of the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe. There were some questions, especially about the differences between the media situation in Western Europe and in Ukraine.

During the introduction the participants said that political programs on Ukrainian radio and TV could were absolutely not attractive to young people. To explore the opportunities for a different approach, participants got the assignment to sit together in small groups to develop ideas for special political programs on radio an TV for younger people. The outcome was very interesting and gave a lot of ammunition for discussion between the students and the more experienced journalists.

Second part was a presentation about the ways of making political debates on television more attractive.

During the second half of the afternoon session the participants got the assignment to present ideas for an attractive way of interviewing politicians on radio and TV. In Ukraine almost every interview is in a very formal setting, compared with Western Europe and the US.

On the second day trainers opened the session with a presentation about the world wide transformation in journalism from a one-side approach (only journalists decide on the content) to a more interactive attitude with a lot of attention for the needs and wishes of the citizens-clients-consumers.

During the presentation about the role of opinion polls in election campaigns trainers gave some international examples and also referred to the recommendations the Council of Europe has made in this respect.

Next assignment for the participants was to come up with ideas for a television programme on elections with a maximum input of the public.
 

During the introduction, the outcome was very interesting and gave a lot of ammunition for discussion between the students and the more experienced journalists.

During the second half of the afternoon session, although most participants did not have any practical experience, they managed to come up with some creative ideas. Some video footage of political programs in other countries gave participants the opportunity to compare their ideas with the practice in Western Europe.

The outcome of the last assignment was positive but not very spectacular. Again some video footage of political programs in other countries gave participants the opportunity to compare their ideas with the practice in Western Europe.

Before closing the seminar, the participants got a last chance to come up with questions.
 

The majority of the participants were students (2nd year) in journalism. One of the more experienced persons was working in the press office of Donesk regional council. 

Mr David van der Houwen, Streamline Consultancy, Netherlands
Mr Gie Meeuwis, journalism trainer, Belgium
 

Ms Lejla DERVISAGIC, Media Division, DG II