European Youth Media Days 2015

(openPR) Media Freedom in the EU and its Neighbourhood
European Parliament, Brussels, 20-22 October 2015

The 2015 edition of European Youth Media Days is about to begin! From 20-22 October,
100 young media makers from all over Europe will gather at the European Parliament in
Brussels for three days of innovative, interactive and inspiring discussions and media production on the theme of Media Freedom in the EU and its neighbourhood.

Media freedom is a crucial topic all over the world right now. 2015 opened with the horrific massacre of 12 journalists at the office of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Across Europe, lawmakers have responded to such acts of violent extremism with draconian surveillance laws that threaten the ability of journalists to carry out their duties. Meanwhile, declining circulation figures and changing models of media ownership have put increasing economic pressure on journalists, while the governments of some European countries seem openly
hostile to the idea of a free and independent media.

EYMD 2015 will explore the issue of media freedom in Europe with in-depth debates and hands-on media production. There will be expert panel discussions on the European Parliament’s role in supporting media freedom in the EU and its neighbours, as well as the
issue of media freedom and censorship in 21st century Europe, followed by a series of media workshops in which participants will create high quality articles, videos and multimedia projects.

The outcome of these workshops is a key part of the EYMD event, with the best pieces being published by our partner Euronews. This year's EYMD will also see the announcement of the winner of the inaugural Prix de l'EYP, which will recognise outstanding work produced by young European media makers in three categories: video, photography and text.

We will be covering the events in Brussels on our website, Twitter account and Facebook page. Make sure that you follow the Twitter account and Like the Facebook page to stay up to date with all the goings-on. Journalists have a habit of being noisy on social media, and we are sure that the participants will also have plenty to say about the event using the hashtags #EYMD, #EYMD15 and #mediafreedom.