Panorama

Let’s start with introductions! Who are you, where are you from? Can you each share a bit about your background? What inspired you to pursue journalism/photography?

Sigrid Hallqvist: I am 25 years old and based in Stockholm, Sweden. During my last year of study as a journalist, I got my first reporting job at a local TV station. In the two years since I graduated, I have managed to work with both TV and radio, and I have to say I love doing both! 

I think what inspired me to become a journalist is that I had a creative background in both theatre and music and was looking for a profession that was both creative but not quite as unstable as working as a musician or with acting. Today, I love journalism, not only because it is a kind of complement to my other creative interests, but because journalism in itself is a craft and a kind of art.

Neža Borkovič: My name is Neža Borkovič and I’m a journalist from Slovenia. For more than 5 years now I’ve been working as a science journalist for Slovenian public broadcaster Radio Slovenija. With my wonderful colleagues, I’m working on our own science radio show for children called Radiovedni, where every week we’re working with our youngest listeners, answering their questions with the help of renowned scientists. Communicating science to adults is also part of my work and brings its own set of challenges. I also love working on totally different audio pieces, pieces in a documentary style, where I portray different people from marginalised areas – I present the stories of homeless people, elderly residents in nursing homes, and we’re currently preparing pilot versions of shows where we will work with prisoners.

Magna Araújo Amorim: My name is Magna Araújo Amorim, I’m originally from Vila Nova de Cerveira, but I currently study Communication Sciences in Lisbon, where I also live and work. My journey with photography started when I watched my mother, a teacher, always documenting school events with her camera. Eventually, I was the one who picked up the camera and began exploring the world through the lens myself. I am now a featured artist at the creative studio ADVERSA, where we ‘cross the bridge’ between artistic and institutional work.

 

Winning this prize, which honours Antonio Megalizzi and Bartek Niedzielski, two journalists who lost their lives in a terrorist attack, must be a powerful and emotional moment for you. How does this award influence your perspective on the role of journalism in today’s world?

Sigrid Hallqvist: Working in the media can be very tough at times. We have had a period of recession, and many journalists have lost their jobs in Sweden. It has often made me doubt my role in the profession and whether I think it’s worth it or not. When I received the award honouring Antonio Megalizzi and Bartek Niedzielski, it reminded me how privileged and lucky I am to continue working and living on while others didn’t get the chance. Antonio Megalizzi and Bartek Niedzielski were both promising and driven journalists who would have gone far if given more time. It feels like those of us who get to live on have a responsibility to continue in their footsteps and talk about the things they never had time to tell about. Now I have the statuette on my bookshelf, and every time I see it, I am reminded of that.

Neža Borkovič: To have the honour of now holding this award in my hands is something I will forever struggle to put into words. I’m truly grateful that I was recognised as someone with great potential at such an early stage of my career. And I am committed to living up to the high hopes and wishes of the jury in the years to come. Yet, I also strongly feel that in our profession, it’s difficult to single out someone as "the best" because journalism encompasses so many different stories, areas, and storytelling methods, each vital in its own way. 

But this award has another layer of importance for me. I, too, was in Strasbourg during the 2018 attack that took the lives of the two young journalists this award honours. That December will forever cast a shadow on my heart. And, by some strangely unfortunate coincidence, after five years, the award came to me. Many times over the years I have asked myself why someone stays and someone else leaves so ungratefully. When you ask me if I see the role of a journalist differently after receiving this award, I’m going to answer “no”. Nothing is different: we still have to fight for the truth. We still have to fight for the truth to come out. The award is just a reminder that in the search for the truth, we must also take care of our own health and prevent possible dangerous circumstances as much as possible.

Magna Araújo Amorim: Journalism is a powerful tool to combat disinformation. By providing accurate and transparent information, it empowers people to see beyond manipulated narratives, fostering critical thinking, and ensuring they can make informed choices for the future. 

In this context, photojournalism holds a unique and essential role. Through powerful imagery, photojournalists capture moments that words alone often can't convey, offering a visual truth that complements written reports. Images evoke emotions, spark dialogue, and bring clarity to complex issues, making it harder for misinformation to spread. By blending storytelling with visual evidence, photojournalism becomes a powerful tool for transparency and truth, helping the public stay informed and engaged. 

 

I want to follow up on what you are saying, Magna. In our image-saturated information age, as a photographer, do you think pictures still have a role to play in informing the public in general and more specifically about institutions? Can you think of an example? 

Photojournalism is essential for informing the public by visually conveying realities that words alone cannot. Powerful images bring distant events closer, creating an immediate, emotional connection that deepens understanding and empathy. These visuals serve as a historical record and a call to action, helping to hold power accountable and keeping critical issues in the public eye. For institutions, photographs of humanitarian crises are crucial for illustrating the impact of their work and raising awareness. A pertinent example is the recent images from Gaza, which reveal the harsh realities of the conflict. These photographs humanise the victims and provide a tangible view of the situation. Such powerful visuals help generate empathy and keep global attention focused on critical issues.

 

As part of the Youth4Regions experience, you’ve had the opportunity to engage in a week of training with EU institutions. How has this experience impacted your views on the relationship between journalists and public institutions? Will it influence the topics or approaches you take in your reporting?

Sigrid Hallqvist: As a journalist, it can sometimes be difficult to manage the relationship with larger institutions, organisations, or companies. Over time, it has in some ways become more difficult for journalists to get straight answers and report independently because large companies and organisations often have their own press secretaries and spokespersons who work for their own organisation. The EU has met me with an open attitude and shown great commitment towards me and my colleagues in Youth4regions and gives us many opportunities by offering financial support to various media projects. However, my experience of interviewing individual departments and organisations within the EU has been more difficult. There are strict requirements on what (according to them) is defined as a regular interview and what you can and cannot quote. I have also encountered strict demands from interviewees to read through what I write before publication and a willingness to go in and edit part of the articles. As I said, this is not unique to the EU but something I and many other journalists have identified when it comes to all major companies and institutions.

Neža Borkovič: Above all, I realised how crucial it is to ask the right questions and persist until they are answered. And to not be afraid of asking anything. Journalists are in institutions for a reason – to interpret everything said inside for the people living outside. And you can't do that if you don't know the subject well enough and if the truth is hidden behind big bureaucratic words.

Magna Araújo Amorim: The Youth4Regions experience gave me insight into the role of photojournalism within public institutions, revealing both the potential and challenges in visually documenting EU initiatives. It reinforced my belief that photojournalism should go beyond staged institutional imagery, aiming instead to capture authentic, human-centred moments that reflect the real impacts of policy.

 

Journalists often act as a bridge between institutions and the public, holding power to account while ensuring transparency. In your view, what is the ideal role of journalism in relation to EU institutions and governance?

Sigrid Hallqvist: As mentioned earlier, it has become difficult to reach within an organisation. Individual officials are not always allowed to talk to the media, all contact with the media is often managed from the press department. When it comes to the EU, I can understand that such a large organisation must have restrictions regarding the relationship with the media and what information is being shared with the outside world. At the same time, as a journalist, you must guard your own interests, such as independence and being able to review critically without being opposed by press departments. Therefore, the ideal relationship between the media and the EU is a professional and limited relationship that carefully marks where the boundary in the relationship is. A relationship where the EU is helpful with support, funding, and information and in return receives media attention and the information about the positive work the EU does if being spread, but where the EU should also be prepared for the fact that the journalist is free to be critical of the organisation, even in practice. However, a journalist is not only critical. A journalist can and should highlight what is positive, and in my opinion it is especially important to show the EU's ability to unite Europe in times of political instability and forces that lobby against the Union.

Neža Borkovič: As I mentioned before, journalism should act as a vigilant observer, but also as a translator, transforming complex policies and decisions into language that resonates with everyday people. We must remind ourselves that institutions serve the people, and it’s our job to ensure this relationship remains transparent and truthful because that's where taxpayers' money goes.

 

With the challenges that the journalism profession is facing today — from misinformation to financial pressures — what do you think needs to change in the industry to better support journalists like yourselves, especially those covering critical but complex issues like the European Union?

Sigrid Hallqvist: Larger organisations should ease the work of journalists by accepting the journalist's right to critically review without trying to interfere and influence the journalist. When more organisations create their own press departments that write their own, angled news about the organisation, it damages freedom of information and creates a feeling within organisations that you don't need to talk to outside media. Allowing a journalist to be a journalist is also important. Instead of using a reporter, I have seen an increase in companies and organisations that choose to use celebrities or influencers who are supposed to cover or promote an organisation for commercial purposes, then you take away the journalist's role and don't get independent coverage. It is also wise to invest in good journalism. It’s often said that journalists have never been more important than now, despite that there are many who do not spend the money required for journalists to be able to do their job. If media coverage is important - show it!

Neža Borkovič: I think that above all we must have enough time for critical reporting, which is always conditioned by money. Personally, I am passionate about slow journalism and reporting, which requires a lot of research. But I see fewer opportunities for this kind of work today, largely due to limited budgets for professional journalism. I’d love to see conditions that support journalists’ well-being and an understanding, from both media owners and journalists themselves, of the importance of work-life balance, which is essential for creating quality content.

 

With advancements in generative AI and its ability to produce fake news, what is your take on the future of the profession, and do you think there will be some wiggle space for true reporting? Do you feel AI threatening your career choice?

Neža Borkovič: I honestly think that AI does not threaten our profession, but it threatens the way of reporting that has existed until now and that many journalists still cling to. I think that we will just have to redefine our profession, where the main role will be played by the interpretation of events and not just the news reporting of facts that are easily collected by AI. Our task now is to argue and provide insights that, for the time being, only people can come to, and to stimulate in the audience that spark for thinking. I think teachers are extremely important when talking about sparks in children and young people, but then later in life journalists also take on this responsibility of lighting a fire in people.

 

What’s next? What are your plans and how did Youth4Regions impact them? Are there any specific issues or topics you are passionate about bringing to light in your work? What hopes and aspirations do you have for your careers?

Sigrid Hallqvist: Even though I may have sounded a bit critical in my answers so far, I have to say that my week in Youth4Regions has been incredibly inspiring and eye-opening! I have learned a lot about the EU's work and encountered an incredible number of professional, open, and nice people within the organisation. I have also realised that Sweden is severely underrepresented in the EU, as well as the coverage of it. I'm only at the beginning of my career and there's so much I want to explore and learn more about, but what I can say is that I'd love to continue exploring the new path that has opened for me in connection with my week in Brussels and see where it can lead!

Neža Borkovič: Youth4Regions programme will open a lot of new doors for me; we will see how the networking at various events this week has paid off (laughing). But I already have some outlined goals for the future. I am extremely fond of communicating science because I love space, medical and biological topics, so I’m not ready to give this one up just yet. But now, my biggest project and desire is to create a radio for prisoners in Slovenia, and I will do everything to see the project through to the end, as we envisioned it. I am convinced that radio can be a tool to empower prisoners. By allowing them to create their own content, it fosters a sense of responsibility, creativity, and belonging to the community. With our team of exceptionally talented journalists, I am confident we can accomplish something meaningful in the coming year.

Magna Araújo Amorim: Going forward, I want to dive deeper into creating art that connects with real-world issues and supports meaningful social causes. I’m interested in exploring themes like immigration, refugees, the ongoing housing crisis, and homelessness — issues that need more awareness and empathy. By highlighting these topics in my work, I hope to inspire not only understanding but also a shared sense of responsibility.