Journalistic Voices Diversified

©Yannick Sas

©Yannick Sas

©Yannick Sas

©Luis Miguel Cáceres Ortiz

Journalistic Voices Diversified (JVD) is a media mentorship project that brings together exiled and refugee journalists in Belgium and the Netherlands to resume, progress and re-address their careers.

Displaced journalists frequently enter Europe with a remarkable range of skills but experience exclusion from employment circuits, cultural barriers and various obstacles when trying to pursue their profession.

The Journalistic Voices Diversified (JVD) pilot programme was conceived by the Evens Foundation with Are We Europe and Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek to support participants in the pursuit of their careers in Europe through mentoring and workshops, with a specific focus on narrative practises and immersive storytelling.

The outcome is a collection of individual and collective media projects, enriching the Belgian and European media landscape with fresh perspectives while further establishing the journalists' profiles and presence within a professional context.

Pilot Programme 2021-22

The pilot edition of JVD launched a call for applicants in 2021 and took place in 2022. Between March and June, selected participants engaged in a series of workshops and a conference, among other activities.

Participants

Opoka p’Arop Otto is a South Sudanese investigative journalist now resident in the Netherlands. He continues to provide online media training and mentorship for freelance journalists. He is currently producing a podcast series in collaboration with Alibi Investigations in South Africa about the plight of human rights defenders who must make difficult choices about their futures when they temporarily escape the injustices they advocate against and reach sanctuary cities in Europe.

Luis Miguel Cáceres Ortiz is a Venezuelan photojournalist with studies in social communication and a specialization in photographic arts and techniques. He has lived in Brussels since May 2019.
He has collaborated with the Colombian news channel NTN24 in Venezuela and worked as a photojournalist for online newspaper Cronica Uno and as a multimedia journalist for El Pitazo Web. He was also head of the audiovisual department of the NGO Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (a world without gags). He is currently a contributor to the German sports agency Sportograf.

Ahmed Gamal Ziada is an Egyptian investigative journalist and researcher who works for several Egyptian human rights organizations. He has been imprisoned twice for his work and joined the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate during his second time in prison. He is currently based in Brussels, where he focuses on advocating for press freedom and setting up a website for investigative journalists based in Egypt, which will be run from Belgium. He is currently studying for a master's degree in political science at ULB.

Workshops

1/ Developing narrative skills with Stephanie Bakker
2/ Audio storytelling with Jair Stein
3/ Turning stories into projects with Stephanie Bakker, Evelien Kunst and Ides Debruyne

Workshop leaders:

Stephanie Bakker is an award-winning journalist. Her stories about Congo, Colombia and Peru have been published worldwide. In 2014/2016 she received a European Journalism Centre grant for Innovation in Development Reporting and a Transmedia grant from the Dutch Mediafund. In 2017 she won a World Press Digital Storytelling Award with Future Cities.

Ides Debruyne is co-founder and managing-director (since 11 September 2001) of Journalismfund.eu, an independent non‐profit organisation established in 1998 with the purpose of stimulating independent investigative journalism in Europe. Ides is the co-founder of the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists (VVOJ) and the non-profit organisation SciMingo vzw.

Evelien Kunst has over 23 years of international experience in the photographic and journalistic industry. She was managing director of photo collective Noor, set up capacity-building training projects in Africa and Asia for World Press Photo, and worked as the director at the Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek between 2018 -2022. Since 2021, she is responsible for talent development at the Dutch Fund for In-depth Journalism.

Jair Stein is a radio and podcast producer, specialising in narrative journalism, American style. He has worked as a science journalist, an investigative reporter and the host of a daily radio show. Over the last 10 years, Jair created several award-winning podcasts together with a group of freelance radio producers, such as 1 Minuut, a series of very short radio documentaries (Prix Europa, 2008) and Plots, a Dutch version of This American Life (best Dutch radio program, 2013).

Conference

Participants in the pilot JVD programme were invited to join the 2022 edition of True Stories, an annual conference organised by Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek. The conference took place on 1 June at Beeld En Geluid in Den Haag.

As part of the official programme, Opoka p'Arop Otto interviewed Els van Driel about her interactive transmedia project Shadow Game in a live event, based on questions he prepared with the three other participants of Journalistic Voices Diversified.

Displaced journalists frequently enter Europe with a remarkable range of skills but experience exclusion from employment circuits, cultural barriers and various obstacles when trying to pursue their profession.

The Journalistic Voices Diversified (JVD) pilot programme was conceived by the Evens Foundation with Are We Europe and Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek to support participants in the pursuit of their careers in Europe through mentoring and workshops, with a specific focus on narrative practises and immersive storytelling.

The outcome is a collection of individual and collective media projects, enriching the Belgian and European media landscape with fresh perspectives while further establishing the journalists' profiles and presence within a professional context.

Pilot Programme 2021-22

The pilot edition of JVD launched a call for applicants in 2021 and took place in 2022. Between March and June, selected participants engaged in a series of workshops and a conference, among other activities.

Participants

Opoka p’Arop Otto is a South Sudanese investigative journalist now resident in the Netherlands. He continues to provide online media training and mentorship for freelance journalists. He is currently producing a podcast series in collaboration with Alibi Investigations in South Africa about the plight of human rights defenders who must make difficult choices about their futures when they temporarily escape the injustices they advocate against and reach sanctuary cities in Europe.

Luis Miguel Cáceres Ortiz is a Venezuelan photojournalist with studies in social communication and a specialization in photographic arts and techniques. He has lived in Brussels since May 2019.
He has collaborated with the Colombian news channel NTN24 in Venezuela and worked as a photojournalist for online newspaper Cronica Uno and as a multimedia journalist for El Pitazo Web. He was also head of the audiovisual department of the NGO Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (a world without gags). He is currently a contributor to the German sports agency Sportograf.

Ahmed Gamal Ziada is an Egyptian investigative journalist and researcher who works for several Egyptian human rights organizations. He has been imprisoned twice for his work and joined the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate during his second time in prison. He is currently based in Brussels, where he focuses on advocating for press freedom and setting up a website for investigative journalists based in Egypt, which will be run from Belgium. He is currently studying for a master's degree in political science at ULB.

Workshops

1/ Developing narrative skills with Stephanie Bakker
2/ Audio storytelling with Jair Stein
3/ Turning stories into projects with Stephanie Bakker, Evelien Kunst and Ides Debruyne

Workshop leaders:

Stephanie Bakker is an award-winning journalist. Her stories about Congo, Colombia and Peru have been published worldwide. In 2014/2016 she received a European Journalism Centre grant for Innovation in Development Reporting and a Transmedia grant from the Dutch Mediafund. In 2017 she won a World Press Digital Storytelling Award with Future Cities.

Ides Debruyne is co-founder and managing-director (since 11 September 2001) of Journalismfund.eu, an independent non‐profit organisation established in 1998 with the purpose of stimulating independent investigative journalism in Europe. Ides is the co-founder of the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists (VVOJ) and the non-profit organisation SciMingo vzw.

Evelien Kunst has over 23 years of international experience in the photographic and journalistic industry. She was managing director of photo collective Noor, set up capacity-building training projects in Africa and Asia for World Press Photo, and worked as the director at the Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek between 2018 -2022. Since 2021, she is responsible for talent development at the Dutch Fund for In-depth Journalism.

Jair Stein is a radio and podcast producer, specialising in narrative journalism, American style. He has worked as a science journalist, an investigative reporter and the host of a daily radio show. Over the last 10 years, Jair created several award-winning podcasts together with a group of freelance radio producers, such as 1 Minuut, a series of very short radio documentaries (Prix Europa, 2008) and Plots, a Dutch version of This American Life (best Dutch radio program, 2013).

Conference

Participants in the pilot JVD programme were invited to join the 2022 edition of True Stories, an annual conference organised by Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek. The conference took place on 1 June at Beeld En Geluid in Den Haag.

As part of the official programme, Opoka p'Arop Otto interviewed Els van Driel about her interactive transmedia project Shadow Game in a live event, based on questions he prepared with the three other participants of Journalistic Voices Diversified.