Fostering their perspectives…
COORDINATOR of Youth Media Guyana (YMG), Ms. Andrea Bryan said yesterday that, as many youths as possible are being targeted countrywide to be trained as journalists in an effort to capture the perspective of youths on different issues. She told the Guyana Chronicle that a registration process has already been completed and at least 100 persons on file will soon be addressing any issue that is of interest to youths or affects their development.
“We plan to have one big training session because we do not want to just send youths out there without experience or training. After this, we will be able to call them youth journalists or adolescent communicators,” Bryan said.
YMG is solely funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and is supported by National Communications Network (NCN) and the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC).
Its main aim is to foster youth expression through the media and targets youths, aged between 10 and 25 years, across the ten regions of Guyana, through the print and electronic media.
Bryan said the youth journalists will take a new angle in producing news, not recreating the wheel as it relates to the dissemination of relevant and timely information but, rather, addressing whatever impacts youths.
“We want to break things down and have young people sharing their perspective on what is going on. Adults, sometimes, make decisions for young people but we want the latter to have a role to play. That way, they have information and are better informed to play such a role,” she said.
Bryan said the youth journalists will be able to access training materials and be advised on ethical reporting and other related issues.
She explained that the initiative is being undertaken after a group from YMG took part in a workshop in Suriname, where a similar project has been rolled out.
LARGER SCALE
“In Suriname, they also produce youth news for children but we want to do it here on a larger scale,” Bryan said.
She said advancing the youth journalists programme is made possible through collaboration between the Government, donor agencies and the Private Sector.
Bryan said YMG is looking to collaborate with the Education Ministry, as well, because in the pipeline is the establishment of regional youth journalism clubs in schools.
“The representatives from these clubs will feed us information in terms of what is happening in the region with young people. Even if it is not within the school system, the out of school youths can register with the clubs,” she said.
Bryan said this new approach is another step towards fulfilling the organisation’s mandate to provide a platform for youths to be heard.
According to her, YMG is an award winning youth led organisation with a quest to produce public broadcast programming and publications for young people, by young people.
“YMG utilises Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and multimedia in creative and innovative ways to build awareness at all levels of society and promote active youth participation,” she said.
On Thursday, YMG was involved in the establishment of a new and interactive website where young people can share views, ideas, videos and pictures on www.youthmedia.gy.
“Young people, as part of a regional network, will now have an even larger audience to speak out on issues affecting their lives and the wider society. This platform also creates an avenue for the exchange of information about the lives of children in other parts of the country and builds awareness regarding the rights and responsibilities of children. We now have a hub where we can showcase the work done by Guyanese youth,” Bryan stated.
She recalled that, in December 2006, with UNICEF support, six persons were selected to represent Guyana at the ‘Kids and Docs’ Festival and Media Workshop in Suriname.
That programme included a series of television, radio, print and music seminars that allowed young people from within CARICOM to actively access resources geared to assist in youth expression, with the objective of developing similar programmes within their respective countries.
“After our return, the delegation launched YMG on May 15, 2007, with the aim of providing an avenue for young people to advocate for their rights whilst empowering them through media,” Bryan reported.
NEWS BULLETIN
She said, presently, YMG produces a monthly 11 minutes television news bulletin on NCN, highlighting issues that affect young people in Guyana.
Speaking on YMG achievements, Bryan said that in 2008, it was the recipient of the UNICEF Regional TACRO Footprints Award, for Best Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean, through its youth news bulletins.
In 2009 YMG received an award for the Best Youth Media Initiative with honourable mention for Best Communication Partnership.
“We were also named on a pre-selection list of international Best Practices by a UNESCO-led Organising Committee,” she disclosed.
Bryan said, ultimately, the goal of YMG is to establish a physical media centre where young people can freely access the technical resources to maximise their creative potential and have their perspectives acknowledged, using all kinds of media.
“Young people have always brought hope and vision to any society and we have been the ones that seek the truth. We have been the ones to challenge the unacceptable, the ones to think outside the box. Our mandate is to give a voice to the young people of Guyana so that they can both be seen and heard,” she asserted.