FESTIVAL 2022
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FESTIVAL 2022: Between the Lines
In our first edition, we combined international training with practical workshops, covering topics such as ethical migration reporting, podcast production, and working in conflict zones. It was three days of learning how to tell global stories without repeating the same mistakes that the media has been making for decades.
WHAT HAPPENED
The inaugural festival began with ice cream and concluded with a toolbox. Journalists from Uganda and Costa Rica encouraged participants to view global issues from different perspectives – the same story can appear very different depending on your viewpoint. The festival posed the question: what if we stopped talking about migration altogether and focused on the parallels instead? What if we spoke about solutions rather than tragedies?
Behind closed doors, editors demonstrated how to craft the perfect pitch for international outlets. A sociologist from the London School of Economics examined how the media shapes our global imagination. When the sessions were opened to the public, three workshops ran simultaneously: a podcast production workshop led by a German radio professional; a workshop on phone photography techniques; and a workshop on field reporting survival skills led by a war correspondent. The final evening debate compared Central and Eastern European newsroom practices with those of Western outlets, revealing how journalism works differently when there are no fact-checkers or researchers on staff.
The festival in numbers
MOMENTS THAT STAYED
Perspectives from the Global South
Journalists from Uganda and Costa Rica ran workshops on viewing global issues from different standpoints. The same issues – climate change, conflict and development – look entirely different depending on your starting point. How can we move beyond Western frameworks and actually listen to voices from other parts of the world?
Let's NOT Talk About Migration
Tom Law (Global Forum for Media Development) and Peter Ivanič offered a new approach to migration coverage, suggesting the use of parallels, discussion of solutions rather than tragedies, consideration of audience perception, and preemptive adaptation of strategies. What are our own prejudices and stereotypes about migration? What should we absolutely NOT do when covering it?
How to Pitch to the International Media
Do you want to write for the New York Times, the Guardian or Reuters? A former editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation showed how to craft pitches that won't be ignored. Using migration-related examples, they demonstrated what international editors actually want to see — and what makes them hit delete.
Skills Bootcamp
Three parallel tracks: podcast production with Diane Hielscher (Germany) and Jana Maťková (SME), phone photography with Jana Čavojská and Tomáš Benedekovič (Denník N), and field reporting techniques with András Földes.
War Zone Reporting
András Földes (Telex.hu), Mirek Tóda (Denník N), and Ameera Harouda (Palestine's first female fixer, joining online) on risks in conflict zones, preparation, insurance, research – and how not to speak with traumatized people in the field. The unglamorous reality of war reporting: it's mostly logistics and safety protocols.
CEE vs. Western Journalism
Beata Balogová (SME) and Timothy Large compared newsroom practices in Central and Eastern Europe with those in the West. Job positions such as researcher or fact-checker do not exist in our part of the world. Western journalists cannot imagine working the way we do here. Different resources, different constraints, different journalism.
WHO JOINED US
The first festival brought together young journalists eager to learn international reporting. From war correspondents to sociologists, from Reuters editors to fixers working in conflict zones.
Featured participants:
András Földes (HVG, Hungary)
Beata Balogová (SME, Slovakia)
Shani Orgad (London School of Economics, UK)
Ameera Harouda (Palestine)
Tom Law (Global Forum for Media Development)
Diane Hielscher (Radio journalist, Germany)
Hamimu Masudi (Uganda)
Michel Ferris Dobles (Costa Rica)
+ 15 more journalists, editors, and media trainers
Also joined by:
Timothy Large (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Jana Čavojská (photographer, Slovakia), Tomáš Benedekovič (Denník N, Slovakia), Jana Maťková (SME, Slovakia), Mirek Tóda (Denník N, Slovakia), Peter Ivanič (World Between the Lines, Slovakia), Miroslava German Širotníková (freelancer, Slovakia), and young journalists and journalism students from across Europe.
