The Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement, in cooperation with the European Youth Press association and Café Babel, launched today the 2009 European Young Journalist Award, a pan-European competition for young journalists. This year Europe celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the iron curtain and the 5th anniversary of the accession to the EU of eight Central and Eastern European Countries, as well as Malta and Cyprus. These anniversaries offer a special incentive for aspiring or professional journalists from all over Europe to reflect and express their views on the enlargement of the European Union.
Following the success of last year’s competition, the European Commission is offering the opportunity to more young journalists to show case their talent. In addition to written online or print articles, the 2009 award is also open to radio journalists.
The competition is open from the 1 February until the 31st of May 2009. The topic of all applications for both categories must refer to the EU enlargement and / or the future vision of Europe. Participants’ age must be between 17 – 35, and they must come from an EU member states, a candidate or a potential candidate country (Western Balkans and Turkey).
On the occasion of the launch of the competition Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement said: “I welcome the second edition of this competition and look forward to reading and listening to the views of young journalists throughout Europe. Young people are important opinion leaders for their generation and the competition gives them an opportunity to share their experiences and visions of our European future.”
When evaluating the applications, national jury members will look for a touch of journalistic flair to all submitted articles and radio pieces which must be related to issues on the enlargement of the European Union. Participants can enter the competition via the dedicated website: http://www.eujournalist-award.eu/. It also provides information about the EU’s enlargement policy, interesting tips on developing a career in journalism, as well as an interactive blog.
The winning articles and radio pieces will be published on the competition website and the articles will also be published in a booklet. The 35 national winners of the 2009 European Young Journalist Award will be invited at the end of August/beginning of September 2009 to a cultural and historical trip to Berlin. The capital of Germany will this year celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the end of the trip the winners will be able to meet EU representatives, politicians, ambassadors, professional journalists.
For information on how to enter the competition, please visit www.EUjournalist-award.eu.
Press contact:
Claire Castel
European Commission/ DG Enlargement
Tel. + 32 (0)2 29 – 661 78
Email: Claire.Castel@ec.europa.eu
Bernadette von Vopelius-Feldt
