The European Parliament Training Programme for Young European Journalists, a collaborative effort by the European Parliament Office in Greece, Symbiosis-School of Political Studies of the Council of Europe in Greece, and Inside Story, welcomes aspiring journalists to a transformative journey in three sucessive learning periods, from 2023 to 2026. This initiative aims at raising awareness among young journalists working for EU-based media outlets, providing insights into European affairs in general and Parliament-related topics in particular. The training plays a crucial role in contributing to a better understanding of how the EU works, emphasizing the significance of the Parliament, parliamentary democracy and the values it represents.
Information and Democracy
Information Disorder
During May to December 2022, Symbiosis embarked on the “Information Disorder: Understanding propaganda techniques during a war infodemic” initiative, in Thessaloniki and Athens. The aim has been to support participants in developing their understanding on the sources of misleading and/or false information and to activate critical thinking and media literacy skills in recognizing and responding to these phenomena, including by making their own stories. The project has been supported by the European Cultural Foundation, while the focus has been on the ongoing “war infodemic” and on countering multiple threats of disinformation, misinformation, propaganda filter bubbles and fake news promoted through media, following the invasion in Ukraine.
Stories of people experiencing the war, fleeing from harm, suffering trauma and displacement, all form part of how the war is perceived, as well as fought. Further, how political communication is designed and carried out, how political parties develop and defend positions, needs to be unpacked. As the world is witnessing the suffering of Ukraine, yet also many other parts of the world, with millions displaced and seeking safe refuge, news, language, and narratives are crucial to push for a culture of solidarity, freedom of information and expression and for creating safe and brave spaces, particularly for those displaced. The risk of being exposed to information disorder without actively recognising how it might influence attitudes, knowledge, emotions and behaviours is dramatically increased and exacerbated during periods of crisis.
Experts and journalists from Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Turkey and Italy, displaced persons, civil society advocates, humanitarian workers, media workers and students discuss on how, fueled by politics, economics and history, the global take on the war in Ukraine has varied from region to region, particularly given the role that (dis)information has played in influencing these views. Discussions focused on how misinformation plays part in and is part of the war, mechanisms of misinformation, unfolding political narratives, challenges in reporting from the field, debunking the phenomenon in the media, including social, and discussing ways forward, including news checking. How information is diffracted and multidimensional, mediased in unprecedented extent, serving strategic agendas and controlled yet at the same time spiraling out of control. How narratives on the war/s invariably are abundant and differ.
The Media Lab
Media Lab workshop engaged refugees and locals in Storytelling & Journalism, Mobile Reporting and Effective Use of Social Media to raise their voices for integration and social inclusion. Symbiosis, with the support of the UNHCR Representation in Greece, organized capacity building workshops in Athens and Thessaloniki between November 2021 and February 2022, where participants produced short videos, stories, podcasts, and photo stories – a learning process in responsible reporting.
Storytelling techniques and tools were explored, in theory and practice, enhancing skills in mobile reporting, video-making and use of social media. The Media Lab empowered participants’ voices to tell compelling stories – their own or others – providing a platform for reaching a wider audience. Through practice and mentoring on accurate, independent and respectful reporting until the spring of 2022, participants developed their own stories on forced displacement and social inclusion.