Seeds of Peace
International Youth Conference Breaking News, Making Headlines: The Role of Media In Conflict
October 10-16, 2003, New York City, NY
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
During the afternoons of Breaking News, Making Headlines, conference delegates were involved in one of ten workshop groups with professional facilitators and experts in the field. Each team was assigned the task of designing and creating a specific media product. A media specialist and several technicians worked with each working group in order to contribute the knowledge and technical support needed to help the youth meet the objectives of the conference. Final products were presented during the closing plenary session on Thursday, October 16, 2003 to Her Majesty Queen Noor of the Hashemite Kingdon of Jordan.Seeds of Peace Declaration to the Media With the help of writers, editors and facilitators, participants in this workshop composed a document that served as the framework for the Conference, and as the official Conference product. The document aimed to look at how the media can be used to positively impact conflict regions. The Declaration was presented to all participants, media professionals, and Her Majesty Queen Noor at the closing event on Thursday, October 16, 2003. Click here to Read the Declaration to the Media.
Television Reporting
In this workshop, participants worked with a media trainer and staff from ABC News to produce a news segment for television. Participants visited ABC Studios to meet with editors and attended a live taping of a news show. Participants spent the last two days working in the ABC News studios to learn how to use television editing equipment to create their own news segments.
Feature Radio Reporting
Working with radio producers, editors and a facilitator, participants in this workshop conceived of, created, and edited a news segment for radio. The latter part of this workshop took place at CBS Radio, where the youth were introduced to studio equipment and worked with CBS technicians and editors to produce their final news segments.
Anatomy of a Press Event
Participants in this group became more media savvy by learning the nuts and bolts of a press event. Throughout the week the group worked closely with a media trainer and with Ruder Finn Public Relations to learn how to effectively interact with the media and how to draft press materials. In addition, the participants learned how to pitch a story to media outlets and were intimately involved with the implementation of the actual closing event on Thursday, October 16. To read their final press release, click here.
Opinion-Editorials
In this workshop, participants learned the art of Op-Ed writing. Working with a writer, editor and facilitator, the youth learned what steps to take from picking a current topic, to writing an effective piece and getting it published in the kind of publication that will reach the intended audience. On day three of the workshop, the youth visited The New York Times to see it in operation and meet with one of its editors. To read the group's editorial, click here.
Feature Newspaper Reporting
In this workshop, participants worked with a newspaper reporter and facilitator to learn how to conceive of and draft a story in terms digestible for the public they are trying to reach. The youth also visited The Wall Street Journal. On day three of the workshop, the participants were given an assignment by the editor of Teenspeak to write articles for this teen-to-teen quarterly publication. They also hit the streets of New York City and interviewed “locals” for their features. The last days of the workshop were spent writing and editing the articles in accordance with the editor’s requirements.
Feature Magazine Stories
In this workshop, participants worked to conceive of, write and submit serious articles to pop-culture magazines. The workshop dealt with understanding one’s audience and the ways in which to position serious topics so that people will read them, hopefully awakening in them an interest that will encourage them to learn more about the subject matter. On Days 3 and 4, participants heard from the professionals, as they are visited by writers from and editors from Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. The last day of the workshop the youth visited YM Magazine and pitched a story to them. To read the article, click here.
Photojournalism in the Digital Age
In this workshop, participants explored the power of photography in the media. All sessions occurred at the International Center of Photography (ICP) with participants looking at, examining and analyzing current and historical images from their conflict regions and from other parts of the world. Participants worked with photojournalists from ICP to use images from back home and photographs taken during the workshop to express themselves in a digital media piece that conveyed their personal stories.
Internet Workshop
Digital technology is being used more and more as a means for people to express their points of view and for news to be distributed almost in real time. The reach of the internet is beyond that of other, more conventional, media as is the variety of voices and viewpoints represented. As a result, understanding how to effectively navigate the web is an increasingly important skill to have. On Day 3, participants were visited by individuals from “Witness,” which uses Internet and technology to advance human rights. Beyond effective navigation, participants in this workshop worked with a political cartoonist to create their own cartoons for websites that are identified in the earlier part of the workshop. To view one of the cartoons, click here.
Educational Media
In this workshop, participants learned how media can be used as an educational tool. Working with the Sesame Workshop, the participants produced a pubic service announcement campaign targeted at youth from their home countries. As part of the workshop, participants also visited the Sesame Street studio and had the opportunity to meet the Sesame muppet characters, scriptwriters and producers to learn about the possibilities and limitations of Sesame’s educational media. To view an example of one of the PSA produced, click here.