Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about how did you get into journalism?
Ani: I am Ani Arveladze, I am a video journalist from Georgia. I first got into journalism when I was awarded an internship at a TV Network in Georgia, on the account that I was good in school and had good marks. The idea appealed to me and I said to myself “why not?”. I worked the nightshift for one year since I still had school during the day. Nevertheless, I found it very interesting since there is always some drama in Georgian politics and it always feels intense. After the internship I was offered a contract, however the ownership of the network changed hands and it acquired a heavy pro-government bias. Many journalists were replaced, the quality of reporting suffered from it, as did the independence of the newsroom. This led me to quit my job. I subsequently applied for a six months fellowship in Prague to work at Radio Free Europe. After the Prague experience, I was offered to work for a weekly TV show on a new network that opened in Georgia. When Euronews opened in Georgia I told myself that was the place to go and seized the opportunity to apply. I work there now.
Laura: My name is Laura Bannier, I am 25 years old and from France, although I work in Luxembourg. I was inspired by journalism at the precocious age of 12. My class went to a school trip to the regional newspaper “Ouest France”, in Rennes. They told us there were four reporters covering world news for the readership of the newspaper, I went home that night and said to my mother I wanted to be the fifth. This led me to start writing for the school newspaper and then for a weekly in my hometown. I went on to study journalism and media studies at University and worked for a weekly in Metz. It was there that I was scouted by a newspaper based in Luxembourg and I was offered the position I am in now.
Mateja: To start I should specify that I am not exactly a photo-journalist. This is why the prize is a much appreciated surprise. I like taking photos in my spare time, it is a hobby that I cultivated by participating in a workshop two years ago in Greece. I am actually a TV and radio journalist at the public radio in Croatia. I am only moving my first steps into journalism as I originally have a background in Croatian literature. However, I have always been passionate about radio. As a student I hosted a student radio show called Radio X-ica, which still goes on, I was then hired part-time at Radio Pula. About the picture I took for the competition, I wanted to take a risk: I liked the subject of the picture and it felt appropriate. In hindsight, I think pictures work best in communicating something in a multilingual space like the EU.
What was the inspiration for your winning article?
A: What inspired me was the political situation in Georgia, where 20% of the territory is still occupied by Russia. I had researched it thoroughly, and I was interested in the many problems that the population living at the edge of the Russian occupied territory has. Much like in Ukraine now, where calling the invasion “War” or “Special operation”, reveals your loyalty to truth, or lack thereof, in Georgia we mind to never say “border” when discussing the edge of the Russian occupied territory. What attracted me to the story was that nobody, especially governments, seemed to care and I focused on schools in the area. What I found while doing my reporting was that people are scared for children to get kidnapped by Russian soldiers. Their positions are so close that anybody could wander off and never come back, encampments are not fortified nor indicated by signs and you never realise when you are walking in occupied territory and risking of getting snatched for trespassing.
L: Since the theme of the call for applications was youth empowerment I started looking for projects dealing with this matter in Luxembourg. However, Luxembourg being a rich country I could not find many projects that would fit the assignment. I turned to France where there is an ample choice and found out about the Bus Library that featured in my article. The project refitted a bus to contain a nomadic library that would travel to villages in the countryside bringing books and DVDs to places that did not have a library. What caught my attention was the fact that the project was multicultural as it was an Interreg-funded project between France and Germany, so the books were bilingual and young people gathered around a worthy initiative. I interacted a lot with the people managing the project, driving the bus and shuttling the books. I feel this was the main asset of the article, I could collect a lot of stories by discussing with people.
M: The picture I shot portrays a boy sitting proudly in front of a library for young people that he founded and manages. The boy, Valent, who is also passionate about art, sits in front of a sign which he drew and decorated. The inspiration for the picture was really this boy. I was struck by his story and I wanted to immortalize a meaningful moment of it. Despite having a terrible personal story, Valent was one of the most positive people I had ever met. This boy had participated in the European Solidarity Corps programme which had allowed him to find a job and make plenty of friends. He felt grateful to the programme and was happy to get that on film for me. The programme had allowed him to overcome obstacles and allowed him to become self-sufficient, as well as pursue his interests and passions. As for the approach to photography in general, I think the approach to the subject depends on the audience and the project. One could take a marketing/promotional approach which does not mean that the picture would lack an artistic element. However, it is true that EU-funded projects are often too complex to be portrayed just by aesthetic, artistic photos, so perhaps the approach should be the one of photo-reporting: to grasp the complexity. In the end, when shooting, it is about finding balance between clarity and communication on one hand and looking for a deeper meaning on the other.
What attracted you to the Youth4regions programme?
A: Working for Euronews in Georgia made me realise that European companies are sophisticated, more comfortable even, because journalists in the EU are seen as doing a useful job. In Georgia their status is less recognised, sometimes to the point that politicians treat you like a nuisance. On one hand at Euronews I started to get interested in reporting on EU affairs, on the other I realised that I needed to know more about it and its functioning. Participating in the programme offered all of this, as well as networking opportunities to get connections that could be useful for my present job and my future career.
L: I must admit that the EU was not my main interest while studying journalism and in my previous jobs. However, Luxembourg, where I work, is a small country: a very connected one as well as very interdependent with its neighbors. It is well integrated and at the heart of the EU. There, you end up covering a lot more of EU-related subjects. While reporting on them I realised I wanted to learn more about the EU and followed the example of my colleague Anne Damiani, who was very interested in EU affairs and participated to Youth4regions in 2019. I guess the problem for me was that, in France, you study what the EU institutions are and a bit of how they work. Of course you feel European, but you do not really delve into the details of the projects, programmes, funds competencies and so on. Youth4regions not only explains this but it also covers it from the perspective of communication and reporting which allows to exchange with other journalists, young professionals from all over Europe, who can share tips, tricks, good ideas, best practices.
M: Honestly, curiosity attracted me. Moreover, I am just starting my career in journalism. Despite radio being a longtime passion of mine it has not been a job for long so I felt that I had much to learn. This is why I especially appreciated the more “technical” workshops on story-telling and mobile journalism. However, I am grateful to the opportunity because it allowed me to learn more about the EU institutions and how they work, along with the initiatives the EU supports.
What did you know about EU-funded projects before joining #Youth4Regions?
A: I knew that Europe finances projects, but to be honest, before applying for the programme, not much more than that.
L: For me it must be interreg, as I said before, Luxembourg is a small country very integrated with its neighbours and you hear or read the name all the time, but you do not necessarily know what it means and how it works.
M: I knew about some projects in the city I live and work in, Pula, but really I did not have a clear idea of how they worked.
How was your experience at the 2022 European Week of Regions and Cities?
A: The European Week of Regions and Cities allowed me to understand better the functioning of the EU and its activities and to make a lot of useful connections.
L: It was a wonderful experience. I thought it was a bit sad to hear that only French people would not make the effort to speak any other language in the sessions I attended: they all spoke only French. I appreciated plenty of panels and sessions but for me the most compelling were the ones on youth unemployment and youth engagement in environment. In a way it is like listening to a plenty of stories, but since the Week is about sharing best practices it is like listening to a selection of success stories. This is something I can relate to, as I cultivate a growing interest in “Solution Journalism” or a style of reporting that provides information on a problem but also gathers insight on solutions: either emerging from science, culture, theory or being implemented elsewhere in comparable circumstances. For instance, I learned that in the Lorraine department, or Grand Est region of France you need to train medical doctors to be sure that one stays in the region. This is because neighbouring Luxembourg attracts talent with higher salaries. But a speaker at the youth unemployment panel said that it is not only about money, to attract talent or to stop brain drain local authorities should invest in quality of life, infrastructure, culture, leisure. Decouple quality of life from economic incentive. To me listening to this kind of reflections it is like hearing possible solutions.
M: It was really wonderful. This also allowed me to meet wonderful people and made friends. Most of all it was just useful.
In the many sessions and workshops you attended throughout the week you have often been reminded of the crucial role of journalists as guardians of democracy. In your experience so far have you experienced attempts at obfuscation or restriction of your access?
A: I have experienced many of these attempts. In Georgia you sometimes point a camera or a microphone in front of a politician and you get shoved out of the way. It goes from rudeness, through hostility to open provocation. Sometimes the behavior is so unnerving that I struggle to contain my own feelings and it becomes difficult to be professional. I took up boxing as a way to blow off some of this frustration. However, this is the least, sometimes journalists get physically beaten. It happened to me and my crew, we were shooting a segment of LGBTQ activism and we were assaulted by far right thugs. The police did not do anything and even the prime minister later said “guys maybe it is not good to organize the pride, or get involved in LGBTQ activism because it “provokes” far right groups”. When covering these issues, or conflict regions, or criticizing the government you do not get respect from elected officials as a journalist, not as much as you get in Europe, at least. This is the most wonderful thing that we could hope to gain. In any case, in Georgia you need to know very well you are subject, the slightest misinterpretation, or mistake or inaccuracy and you lose credibility because the audience will think you are protecting somebody’s interest.
L: My experience is different from Ani’s, I am lucky to say that mine is less hardcore. However, as much as a government may pay lip service to the importance of free press there are ways to restrict the press’ freedom, manipulated newsrooms. Examples regularly pop up in the EU too, also in France. Perhaps it will not be a politician shoving you, but powerful actors will blacklist a particular outlet that is too critical, restrict its access to press conferences, and be less than forthcoming in sharing information. There is also the matter of how powerful actors can put a chokehold on the press’ means to finance itself in order to be free. Like slashing budgets, imposing political oversight on how TV and radio budgets are spent or publicly delegitimize critical media. Being a journalist in a democracy does not mean that you should not be wary for this type of obstacles on your work.
What next? What are your plans for the future and how did Youth4regions impact them?
A: Winning the Pulitzer Prize! This what I hope at least. Seriously though, this experience in Brussels was inspirational for me. Nobody in Georgia knows what we are missing out on by not being members. I do not mean that the EU is perfect, no form of government is, but the EU represents such a great opportunity. What I want to do now is to tell my audience and even my colleagues about this. For instance, how big of an opportunity is Cohesion policy, even for a non-EU country. I will certainly spread the message in Georgia, I was thinking of convening a group of colleagues and bring them here, to learn some of the things I learned this few days, but of course, I will also do the opposite, I will talk about Georgia to the EU.
L: This experience was a big help. The specific knowledge I gained will allow me to delve deeper into more and more accurate reporting on EU affairs. I was already told that when I go back to the newsroom I will have to make a full debrief to my colleagues, perhaps this means I will become an expert of cohesion policy. In general, better knowledge of the EU and its functioning will make me more qualified to report on it, which is good for my career prospects.
M: Well the programme definitely impacted my career. A life changing impact even. Since I came back to Croatia, the company I work for proposed me to attend an academy for young journalists which I will be starting next month. After that I will try to do my job the best I can. For starters, I will try to make the most of the prize: I am excited to go on the trip I won and since I received a camera I will try to use it to find stories and report on them. For what concerns the future I hope I will be able to keep covering EU affairs, strong with all the things I learnt at the Youth4regions programme.
