Description

The objectives of the project were to:

• Contribute to improve the knowledge of the EU policy, its relation with the ENPI beneficiaries’ countries, and its cooperation policy among the wider public in the ENPI countries and territories;
• Contribute to the development of free and independent media and enhance the notion of public service media;
• Set-up a self-sustainable network of journalists in the ENP region, which would grant a follow up of the three years programme.

The project was implemented under two components:

Component 1 was designed to contribute to increasing, enriching and transforming the public conversation about the EU in ENPI beneficiary countries.  It focused on building the technical knowledge of EU processes among a key group of journalists who will then act as multipliers of information and engagement in their home countries.  These journalists provided accurate, balanced and thought-provoking reporting as well as public discussion spaces through participatory programming, which allowed an informed analysis and debate on their country’s interaction with EU policies and programmes.

Component 2 complemented that process by:

• Providing cross-cutting skills in ethical journalism, which ensures that the content produced by participants is not just technically accurate but is balanced, representative, interesting, comprehensible and accessible for audiences
• Contributing to more financially and professionally sustainable media businesses which are able to invest in this type of public service-oriented output
• Having a cross-cutting focus throughout the project on multi-platform journalism, given the rise of online media across the region and the increasingly sophisticated ways in which people across the region engage with media

The expected project results are:

• Improved quality of reporting and coverage in local ENPI media of information concerning the relations between the EU and its neighbours and especially the concrete results of EU cooperation in the field
• Development of a professional reporting culture about the EU, the ENP and its implementation through the ENP instrument in local ENPI media
• Creation of an active and sustainable network linking ENPI journalists, both among themselves and with European journalists
• Increased awareness and understanding among journalists in the ENPI region of media ethics and effective and impartial investigative reporting standards, especially for online media
• Improved capacity for media in the ENPI region to operate as financially viable and professional independent businesses
• Enhanced capacity for media within the ENPI region to understand and operate as public services