5 EMU Faculty of Communications and Media Studies Students attend an Eco-Journalism workshop organised by the Laona Foundation online, in line with the Covid-19 measures.
Each Year for the past 4 years the Laona Foundation, based in South Cyprus, has organized a bi-communal event, encouraging budding young journalists to attend, in an effort to educate them on how to deal with the subject of environmental issues as journalists. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, last year for the first time the workshop was not realized as planned and instead, organized for early April this year, with 5 students from the faculty attending the workshop as participants, and two FCMS PhD candidates; Umut Aybay, who works for the University Public Relations and Academic Press Office, and Hanife Erisen, who is a Research Assistant at FCMS, attending as speakers and panelists.
Language is not innocent
The online workshop that was carried over 2 days, saw 3 speakers educating during the first day on separate subjects. Presenting first was Biopharmacist Dr. Androulla Miliotou, who presented the subject ‘Protection of wildlife and preservation of the environment: The answer to a future coronavirus’. To follow was PhD Candidate Umut Aybay, who discussed the subject ‘Environmental Journalism and how to present it’. Last to educate on the day was Hanife Erisen, who gave insight’s in relation to ‘The power of language in Journalism and Ethical Issues. During the last presentation, PhD Candidate Hanife Erisen reminded students that language is not innocent, and that the language we use frames images and narratives in the mind, a development journalists also have a hand in.
Certificates handed out by H.E. the Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Ms. Elke Merks-Schaapveld
The second day saw the participants present their joint projects following all they had learnt the previous day. The successful presentations were awarded with certificates that were handed out by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Ms. Elke Merks-Schaapveld, online.
The workshop was concluded with a group photo and farewells until next time, with Artemis Yiordamli, who is the managing director at the Laona Foundation, expressing that she hoped another could be organized later this year.
