Press Release
Please contact Rebecca Hankin, (212) 573-8040 or Benita Gold Public Relations, (212) 678-0469 for further information.
For Immediate Release
125 TEENS FROM CONFLICT NATIONS MEET IN
NEW YORK TO ANALYZE THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN WAR & PEACE
Road Map for Peace in the Middle East Being Drawn by Teens at
Seeds of Peace's Third International Youth Conference
October 10-16, 2003, New York City
New York, NY (October 7, 2003) 125 teens from war-torn regions around the globe, all graduates of the Seeds of Peace program, will arrive in New York City on Friday, October 10 for a six-day international youth conference. Breaking News, Making Headlines is designed to help the "Seeds" understand the influence of the media on their societies and learn how to produce their own media messages to promote peaceful coexistence. Leading journalists from around the world will share their expertise and exchange ideas with Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, Greek and Turkish Cypriot, Balkan, and American youth.
"There is no more critical issue facing young people caught up in conflict than how the media affects their lives," stated Aaron David Miller, President of Seeds of Peace and a former State Department adviser to six Secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli negotiations. "These are the leaders of the next generation. It is critically important that they examine honestly and objectively how media affects what they see and how they interpret the world around them around them. This unprecedented week of presentations by prominent media figures will give these remarkable leaders an opportunity to do precisely that."
Daily Plenary Sessions will provide a forum for the delegates (ages 15-19) to interact with major media figures. Speakers include CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour who will deliver a live Q&A session via satellite from London. Other speakers include Ralph Begleiter (University of Delaware), Marvin Kalb (Harvard's Shorenstein Center), Andrea Koppel (CNN), Mike McCurry (Former Clinton Press Secretary), Judith Miller (New York Times), Scott Simon (National Public Radio), Ray Suarez (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer), and Michael Wolff (New York Magazine). The sessions will take place each morning from 9am-12:30pm at the Embassy Suites (102 North End Ave.) or at The Museum of Television & Radio (25 W. 52nd St.).
In the afternoons, the Seeds will participate in workshops, conducted by volunteers from ABC News, CBS Radio, Hearst Newspaper, the International Center of Photography, Ruder Finn, and Sesame Workshop. With the guidance of these seasoned professionals, the young participants will shoot photographs, write press releases, newspaper stories, magazine features, op-ed letters, public service announcements, and produce news stories for television, radio and the Internet. Their final products will be released for publication domestically and abroad and will be showcased at a presentation on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 9:30am.
The world-renowned journalists and media specialists will themselves have an opportunity to learn from the teenage delegates through the Seeds of Peace Declaration to the Media which will be presented during the closing event. Written by the Seeds, the Declaration will share the Seeds of Peace experience of tolerance and coexistence as well as highlight the power the media can have to positively impact conflict areas and to promote peace.
Breaking News, Making Headlines is Seeds of Peace's third international youth conference. In 1998, Seeds of Peace held a Middle East Youth Summit in Switzerland, bringing together 100 Israeli and Arab graduates to create an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. The result, a 50-page Charter, detailed solutions to the most controversial issues still dogging leaders today. Following the September 11, 2001 tragedies, Seeds of Peace held an International Youth Conference in New York City on Uprooting Hatred and Terror, with 150 Seeds of Peace delegates from 22 countries. The delegates completed a 28-page Charter addressing the root causes of terrorism and formally presented it to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Seeds of Peace has now graduated over 2,500 teenagers representing 22 nations from its internationally recognized conflict-resolution and coexistence program. Through the International Camp in Maine and at its Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem, participants develop empathy, respect, communication/negotiation skills, confidence, and hope - the building blocks for peaceful coexistence. A jointly published newspaper, list-serve, conferences and seminars provide year-round follow-up programming. For more information, visit www.seedsofpeace.org.
For more information about Breaking News, Making Headlines, to arrange for Conference coverage, interviews, or to receive a schedule, please contact Rebecca Hankin, Director of Communications, 212-573-8040 ext. 31, 917-806-2380, rebecca@seedsofpeace.org or contact Benita Gold Public Relations, (212) 678-0469 benitagold@hotmail.com.
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Click here for conference summary.
Please note: The use of the Museum's facilities does not constitute endorsement by the museum of any views expressed during this event.
Seeds of Peace
