Leden Jong Europees Persbureau in Boedapest geselecteerd (en)

Twenty youngsters were introduced in Budapest, on 10 February 2011, who will have the opportunity to broadcast Presidency events, as members of the Young Europe Editorial Office. Tamás Szucs, Head of the European Commission’s Representation, in Hungary, hopes that the programme will draw and keep young people’s attention on EU matters.

More than 150 applications have been submitted to the “Media are all about you!”, competition announced by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Foreign Ministry. Based on the applications, 20 youngsters were given the opportunity to broadcast Presidency events.

The lucky young journalists were introduced to a press conference, by EU organisation representatives at the European Point, the European Commission and the European Parliament’s common Budapest head quarters. As Head of the European Commission’s Representation in Hungary Tamás Szucs, explained the programme aims to draw and keep young people’s attention on EU matters, and provide regular publication opportunity for young talents. Annamária Czugler, PR Attaché of the European Parliament’s Information Office, declared that the European Parliament will provide further help to those young journalists who prove to be the best.

The Young Europe Editorial Office, is one of the projects organised annually since 2007, as part of the Administrative Partnership. The basic idea was given by the “Young Reporters” programme, which was launched by the Swedish EU Presidency in the second half of 2009.

According to Tamás Szucs, an unexpected but positive experience of the Swedish programme was that decision-makers were more than willing to give interviews to journalists, who are new to the profession. Presidency Spokesperson, Piroska Bakos, added that although the Council’s meetings are not open, the Presidency encourages politicians to make themselves available for the young journalists.

The talented youngsters can demonstrate their skills at the informal meeting of Sports Ministers, on 23 February in Gödöllo. Later on, they will report about the informal ministerial meetings, background talks, and cultural programmes. Their writing will be published on the Presidency’s official website, as well as in national and regional newspapers; they can also gain experiences doing TV broadcasting too. One of the young journalists, presently studying in the Belgian capital, with an Erasmus scholarship, will report on Presidency events taking place in Brussels, with the help of the Communication Team of Hungary’s Permanent Representation, and the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Brussels.

“The Commission is ambitious to draw together professional programmes in EU matters and cultural events, in order to make the European Union more attractive to young people,” Tamás Szucs said. The programme also builds on modern journalist tools: youngsters are encouraged to use web 2.0 opportunities, in their work. Members of the Editorial Office will be able to report Presidency events through blogs, in addition to Twitter, and Facebook forums, already forming integrant part of the Presidency’s communication.