The resolution of our work
- Details
- Created on Saturday, 30 January 2016 11:53
- Written by austria
At our trip to Germany we recieved a lot of input related to the topic media. We saw the very first beginning of the press at the Gutenberg-Museum, where we weretold how books were printed in former times. In order to see how media works today, we visited the SWR. Furthermore, we had the possibility to talk about the freedom of the press and media with the german journalist Mr. Ladwig at the Second German Television. Then, we could elaborate on this topic in the European Youth Parliament. Discussing about the right use of media, the reliability of the press and media and laws regulating this issues, our group came to a variety of solutions.
The current situation
Firstly we had to analyse the current situation, and we recognized that there are some problems related to press and media. It should be noted, that every EU-member state has a constitution that includes the right of free speech, however, it is not necessarily complied. Another aspect is extremism and crime on the internet are becoming a major topic due to the anonymity. What has to be mentioned concerning press is, that it is not completely independent and free, but it depends on the readers, the ones who finance the paper, and politicians. Readers may have problems to differentiate between biased and unbiased papers, or they are not critical enough when it comes to unknown sources. Furthermore, it can be noticed, that traditional media becomes more and more digital to reach a larger audience, and digital media offers users the possibility to discuss controversial topics immediately.
Our resolutions
We came to the solution that newspapers should always publish two or more articles on one topic, what makes it easier for the readers to see an issue from another point of view and to build their own opinion. Another big concern is to prohibit political advertisement in newspapers as they are not adequate for a professional paper. Instead, politicians should have their own platforms to spread their opinion, and, in addition, special editions from newspapers concerning politics should be published before elections. In order to ensure free press in all EU-member states, we call for strict financial sanctions for those states, who do not respect their constitution. In order to differentiate better between reliable and unreliable sources, a EU institution should be established that rates and controls sources of research. As young people are the future, a fund for further trainings for teachers should be found, which deals with the topic media. A cooperation between universities, ministries and schools would make sense.
The most important result of our work is the need for a further school subject in primary and secondary schools. It should:
· sensitive the students for risks as well as advantages of media
· teaching them to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources (especially on social media)
· making them aware of rights and responsibilities while using digital media
· habituate children to inform themselves about actual happenings and politics
Judith Stingl
Ju