What's That? Multipolar Views on Journalism
Published on
Story by
Damiano Razzoli
The first part of an inquiry about our views on journalism. Many short interviews to shape and invent the new European media. Let's read following ones, others are coming soon.
Well, writing about journalism from an auto referential point view seems to be kind of usefull, as far as I know it supplies for views on our life, deciding what's news from the everyday world, and everyone potentially could realize her media stuff, think about photos for istance. Should we increase our awareness on this incredible potentiality even more? Why not! Journalism frames the debate and mass media are becoming the connective tissue of billions of human beings experience. No kidding! For sure Europeans are included in this very broad selection: billions. I took a dip inside these billions during European Media Days in Brussels. I mean, just a small part of these billions. The deep dip occured on a rainy morning in the capital of Belgium and Europe. I chose to walk in the streets asking people, all of them citizens of the world and citizens of Europe no matter they come from, what they think about journalism, what is journalism and how young european mediascape is going to look like within next fifty years. I invited them to feel as utopian as realistic and I chose also to address the same questions to young media producers meeting together from 27 to 30 June in European Parliament.
Let's start from the Molenbeek area, around the sbuway station called Comte de Flandre. Hussein comes from Turkey, he has been leaving in Brussels for twenty years: "Journalism displays things how they are, that's important but I don't know how is going to be within fifty years". Jean Charles is Belgique, he stops studying journalism as he was not of his work in a Tv channel. He says to be disillusioned: "I feel talking about journalism means getting aware of its problems. One of them is the news run too fast. Swiftness is the key feature of present journalism and there isn't time for reflection and closer examination. There isn't time left to set facts in their context, to dwell on the meaning of words. What future do I Imagine? I see difficulties for journalist mission to interpret what's happening all over the world, but I hope everyone could become journalist on her own by opening a blog and communicating her point of view". Cherif is 30, he reads newspapers and watches Tv news any single day: "I think journalism is very important, but journalists are not free: they are censored, blocked in their work, hold up among cultural clashes and different perspectives. How to change this situation? We have to wait for the world to change, of course". Malaia is a young Romanian boy, in a hurry and quite assertive: "Journalism in not about truth, it's about fakeness. I don't feel to trust all these information". Ben Aissa is a Moroccan in retirement and it has been living in Brussels for forty years: "Journalim is very important, it displays, covers and reveals problem, as racism".
Let's move now to the European Parliament, where hundreds of young European media producers are busy because of workshop activities concerning Tv, Radio, Photo, Online, Print media.
Oliver, 24, comes from Germany: "Journalism is a such important and big part of society because it allows to control politicians, give publicity to certain topics and many possibilities to share news. I hope one day we will be able to read an European paper magazine made by a mixed crew, a mixed editorial office, journalists from several countries for all the countries, for istance not in english for England".
Joana is 20 and portuguese: "Journalism is one of the most important thing we can give to people. It's a test to prove how society should be. In the future, I would like journalism to be interested in improving partecipation to political life, by connecting politicians to people and viceversa more closely so they can understand what is going on around them".
Ana is 22, she's swedish but is working in Berlin: "I feel journalism is really needed in the world to feel closer to the other, to keep peace. When I think of journalism I say also: freedom of expressing own opinions. I would like to see even more young European journalists, not necessarily full time journalists. Blog gives us the opportunity to communicate and inform when we get home, at night".
Chiara is 25 and Italian: "Journalism is telling what you see, it's mediating between facts and the people you're writing to, who are reading your words. Journalism buil up society and reality and trasmit different information by different perspectives. I would like to imagine within fifty years young European journalists being happy working together in the same office for the same multimedial multilinguistic European magazine".