Education of future journalists from Bosnia and Herzegovina in focus of OSCE-supported workshop

JAHORINA, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), 26 April 2016 – The OSCE Mission to BiH, in co-operation with local NGO Munja Social Innovation Incubator, organized a three-day workshop for journalism students from the Universities of Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka, to familiarize them with the Mission’s work, with particular focus on media freedom, preventing violent extremism and hate- and bias-motivated incidents.

“It is very important to educate future journalists about ethical and professional standards in media reporting, as journalists have an immense responsibility in contributing to peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Zeljka Sulc, Spokesperson of the OSCE Mission.

Jan Zlatan Kulenovic of the Munja Incubator stressed that 63% of young people are unemployed and of these only 7% are active members of society. “It is important to inspire and inform youth about their position, but also possibilities that exist for them. This is why we initiated the munja.ba platform and opened the door for co-operation with young journalists. The role of young journalists and active students can be very useful in the process of motivating and engaging youth.”

The participants also attended a reception organized by the European Federation of Journalists where they discussed the challenges of the journalism profession, and listened to the thematic session of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly’s Joint Committee on Human Rights on media freedom and freedom of expression.

Seminar encompassed multiple perspectives of OSCE and Munja, says Amela Pokvic, a student from the University of Sarajevo. “Thanks to OSCE I learned a lot from the speakers at the Parliament related to the challenges that us, future journalists, await. It was my pleasure to hear more about the OSCE’s work in the field of media freedom from Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE’s representative on Freedom of the Media, herself.”

The workshop was a chance to meet reputable people from the world of journalism, says Frano Kristo, a student from Mostar. “Fruitful discussions we had with journalists from all over Europe and OSCE professionals will be of great value for our future learning processes.”