EJC aims to help central European reporters

19 May 2010

The European Journalism Centre's media development team has just published a handbook for reporters from Central Europe, covering development issues around the world. As they move from beneficiaries to donors, Central Europeans are now looking to the global level and there is a growing sense that people are more connected than ever: from trade and tourism to environment, health epidemics and international crime.

"Here the role of journalists is vital," co-author Oliver Wates said. "Their readers, listeners and viewers need to know why people are poor, what can be done to improve their situation, which aid policies are effective and what types of policy changes are needed to help the most vulnerable. It is up to well-informed, creative journalists to find ways of engaging them."

Available in Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and English, the book is part of the Europeaid project To Act you have to Know, which is raising awareness about development issues in new member states. "This practical guide is the first of its kind in Central Europe: it tackles how to technically write better stories and how to make them more relevant to the local audience. The images donated by Alertnet are moving, striking and inspiring," says editor Josh LaPorte.

Practical and portable

The book can be downloaded here in PDF format. It was presented to 100 participants at EJC's TH!NK3 Developing World event that took place in Brussels in late March, and feeds into another EJC project, 'East4South', where young journalists from new member states team up with African media professionals to report on development.

Source: European Journalism Centre