After taking an exhausting eleven hour bus-boat-bus journey from Coventry through France to the capital of Belgium, I arrived in a city full of the sweet smell of waffles. I was welcomed into the country by pouring rain and cold wind, where the only escape from the freezing air was in the crowded metro lines. Everything was written in two languages – great. But I didn’t speak either.
Brussels, the city of chocolate and beer, was a lot less impressive than I thought it would be, but it was all going to be worth it: I was about to embark on a journalism journey in the European Parliament.
I entered the vastly impressive tall glass building alongside around 60 other young journalists. We were all in anticipation of three busy days reporting on human rights and international conflicts. For a trainee journalist, walking around the Brussels European quarter with a press pass was quite an overwhelming, yet humbling experience. To sit next to practising journalists from all over Europe, who are working at the level of the Associated Press, or reporting from Afghanistan and other war zones, was definitely an opportunity to be seized.
And there I was, in the grand hall, where decisions about Europe are voted; among journalists being rewarded for their outstanding work; among speakers talking about remaining objective in war zones, while being shot at; among people dissecting the work of NGO’s and the specifics of human rights.
The Parliament radio workshop brought me back memories of our practice news-days, where interviewing, recording and editing all had to happen within a very short time span. Let me tell you, stress would be too weak of a word to describe it. But I could feel the adrenaline and excitement pumping through my veins. To be able to produce a radio programme with professional journalists made the experience an amazing dive back into the field that I grew to love.
We were ten, from across Europe. Ten keen young journalists, including myself, Anne-Sofie from Denmark, Christina from Germany, Serginho from Holland, Xavier from Spain, Linus and Irina from Sweden, Alain from France, Anna from Finland and Joanna from Poland. We began by talking to radio producer Daniel Tetlow from the BBC, who said he was not interested in giving a lecture, as there was probably more we could teach him than he could teach us.
So instead, we informally discussed the issues of radio production, xenophobia and nationalism in the European countries, protecting oneself in a dangerous environment, locating sources and good ways of story-telling.
We then moved on to the truly fun part – producing a radio show on the topic of whistleblowing as a new way of protecting human rights. Each of us took the chance to produce their own little piece of the programme in their own way. Anne-Sofie interviewed human rights activists; Serginho and Xavier had chats with actual whistleblowers; Anna and Christina roamed the Parliament asking people whether they knew what the term meant. And while Linus turned to the cultural side and narrated his views on public figures' involvement in conflicts, Irina and I chose to demonstrate how the film industry and whistleblowing were tied together.
In all the chaos, along with running from the studio to the editing room and back and struggling with the lack of phones, we crammed ourselves in virtually every usable corner of the Parliament. But no obstacle could stop us from finishing our scripts and putting together a 40-minute radio programme about whistleblowing.
Along with great memories and a rather terrible cold, Brussels left me with a big pool of journalism resources and a positive feeling about the path that I had undertaken. My radio skills had also improved. Together with a useful experience, the European Youth Press workshop provided a brilliant item to appear on my CV and be put in my portfolio, as well as a proof of the level of the Coventry University Journalism course and the quality of work that we, as the students on it, are capable of producing.Labels: 332mc |
