The European Journalism Forum came to the UK for the first time this week as the University of Lincoln hosted the 24th annual event. Students from across the EU descended on the East Midlands to discuss emerging technologies and the future of journalism. One of the driving forces being organising the forum was third year journalism student Gina Davies who gives her take here on how the five-day forum went.

The prominence of multi-platform media in UK journalism has been celebrated this week as almost 100 European young journalists participated in workshops and lectures on the future of journalism.

From 2 to 7 April, delegates from across the EU worked on practical ways of transferring their print skills to the modern day media environment. They belong to the organisation Forum for European Journalism Students (FEJS), of which this was the first organised event to be held in the UK in the group’s 24-year history.

Participants travelled from across Europe to experience UK media firsthand in the small city of Lincoln, home to local media such as Northcliffe newspaper, the Lincolnshire Echo, and the multi-platform newsroom of BBC Lincolnshire.

With an overview from the Press Association on the topic, the delegates were introduced to a world of micro-blogging, podcasts, vidcasts and basic web skills in their separate workshops.

But they also found time to experience local traditions with a networking evening on Saturday where UK journalists mingled with the delegates and tasted a variety of British ales and Lincolnshire delicacies.

In class, cultures converged as delegates expressed a concern over a future in regional press.

John Meehan, editor of the Hull Daily Mail, spoke on how his team had seen a growth in web hits and advertising through an increase of video content, user-driven content and online forums but some delegates remained unconvinced noting that newspaper sales are still buoyant in places such as the Balkans.

Ian Neild, Futurologist for BT, gave a dynamic presentation on where the consumer market might be heading.

He left the young journalists with the message that technology is only set to grow stronger, and the same leaps in development that led to the Telegraph, could soon set in motion plans for a ‘Tweet-agraph’ or another citizen journalism based equivalent.

By the end of the week delegates from Austria and Croatia to Serbia and Slovenia left with new-found skills in convergence and an idea of emerging technologies; from a Word press blog to a grasp of Photoshop and audio skills, the evidence has been left on show at fejs.co.uk.

Comments

Carole Benton (10/04/2009 14:44:42)
Very many congratulations, Gina, on hosting a well-organised event that the delegates obviously found fascinating and relevent. Kudos to you!