Media Training Workshop - Budapest
One of the key activities of the MEDIP project involved carrying out two training workshops organised for representatives from the six project partners as well as media persons from the six new EU Member States where the project partners derive from. While the first was organised by SOS Malta in March 2009, the second workshop was organised by one of the project partners, the Foundation for Development of Democratic Rights (DemNet), between 25th and 27th February 2010 in Budapest.
This three-day event in Budapest focused on two main topics: communication strategies between NGOs and the media as well as the interpretation of development-related issues in the framework of Millennium Development Goals.
This workshop enabled the participants to develop a deeper understanding on the work both the media and non-governmental development organisations perform in relation to such issues. The workshop also contributed towards improving their knowledge on the challenges encountered when interpreting news on the "Global South". Key speakers included Ms. Barbara Erős, anthropologist and strategic programme officer of DemNet, Mr. József Péter Martin, economist, journalist, and former editor-in-chief of Figyelő (Observer - Hungary), Ms. Brigitta Jaksa, lawyer and policy officer of DemNet, Mr. Gábor Biczó, philosopher and professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Miskolc (Hungary), and Mr. Zoltán Pogátsa, political economist and lecturer at the Univerity of Western Hungary.
Throughout these three days, participants engaged in a number of highly interactive activities including critical analyses of two of the produced MEDIP documentaries and the writing up of press releases. Furthermore, the workshop produced some interesting discussions in relation to the role of the media, especially within new EU Member States, in raising awareness about development issues and the Millennium Development Goals in particular, this being the overall objective of the MEDIP project.