European Youth Press

Network of Young Media Makers

The European Youth Press is an umbrella organisation of national youth media structures in various European countries. The national youth media organisations (YMO) work in different ways but towards quite similar goals, such as supporting and encouraging local and regional youth media and young media creators, by offering educational projects and facilitating services. It was founded in May of 2005 in Berlin during a youth media congress


By SAULE DAGILYTE
from Kaunas, LITHUANIA



Europe is a continent, a continent with many different countries, cultures and people. Lately, some of them try to move closer together, to cooperate and also to assimilate, to make Europe more than a continent. Others, on the other hand, are falling behind. Not because they want to or because they would not be able to, but because they do not know about their possibilities, rights and chances. One of the main reasons why so many things in and around the European project do not work is a lack of information - Information on such things as the structures of various Institutions on the European Level as well as the cultures and mentalities of different nations and different ethnic groups. The European Youth Press tries to take on this challenge of lack of information on the youth level.

The European Youth Press is an umbrella organisation of national youth media structures in various European countries. The national youth media organisations (YMO) work in different ways but towards quite similar goals, such as supporting and encouraging local and regional youth media and young media creators, by offering educational projects and facilitating services. The current members of the EYP come from Armenia, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Young, committed people have tried several times to create a European wide media organisation for young journalists - with little success. In May of 2005 the EYP was founded in Berlin during a youth media congress. Then, the overall aim of the organisation - to strengthen the role of youth media, an intensive supranational flow of information and the freedom of press in Europe - was formulated. The objectives of the European Youth Press are the strong cooperation among national youth media structures in Europe and their support. The EYP also takes part in discussions about journalist education standards and media policy in the European Union.



The projects, being realised all over Europe, are the main pillars of the EYP. Event magazines, congresses, training courses and study-trips are the most recent activities that were implemented and show the success of efforts, which young journalists make everywhere in Europe. Intercultural learning and conflict management on the basis of national experiences, made by individuals on the national levels are a core challenge faced by the members. The intercultural skills are, on the other hand, one of the many qualities that the EYP communicates.

The recently opened office in Brussels, along with the board takes care of the integral work and the communication between the national structures. The different projects, as stated above, are developed and implemented by international project groups.

The European Youth Press is still younger than its already young members, who are between 16 and 30 years of age. The development in the past two and a half years has been promising and important steps towards the vision of a strong, reliable European wide network have been made. Co-operations have proven to be fruitful and stable, new co-operations are expected and hoped for. The EYP is on its way to become an important and useful part of European communication.