Under the title “Beyond the Headlines: The Power of Investigative and Slow Journalism”, the Forum for European Journalism Students (FEJS) organised its General Assembly 2024 at the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism and Institute of Journalism at TU Dortmund University two weeks ago. Almost 50 journalism students and young journalists from 16 countries travelled to Dortmund for the event.
The German Organising Committee, consisting largely of journalism students from Dortmund, spent months preparing for the FEJS General Assembly 2024. In line with the mission of the Forum for European Journalism Students to promote the exchange and further education of young journalism students in Europe, an exciting agenda awaited the participants and their guests.
Renowned guest lecturers such as Jelena Cosic from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Marcus Bensmann from the non-profit German media organisation CORRECTIV gave the FEJS members valuable insights into the topics of investigative and slow journalism. Another highlight has been the official launch of the EU-funded project “COPE: Covering Cohesion Policy in Europe – Training MOOC for European Journalism Students”, which was celebrated with representatives of the European Commission and the partners and universities involved in the project. Under the leadership of the Institute of Journalism at TU Dortmund University, the COPE team including the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) has developed a comprehensive online course consisting of 14 modules over the past two years, which is intended to train future journalists in critical EU and European reporting in all 27 EU member states and in all official EU languages.
Furthermore, the FEJS members had the opportunity to network with each other and with journalists and decision-makers from Dortmund. In addition to visiting the two editorial offices of Dortmund’s local radio station “radio 91.2” and the German public broadcaster “Westdeutscher Rundfunk” (WDR), the FEJS members also benefited from a guided city tour, organised and supported by the Dortmund Economic Development Agency.
Eventually, the participants voted on the new members of the Executive Board and Secretariat, the two central FEJS bodies, as well as the venues for future events. In addition to the already announced location for the Annual Congress 2025, which is expected to take place in Krakow next May, the participants decided to hold the next General Assembly in Porto in Portugal in autumn 2025 and the subsequent Annual Congress in Tilburg in the Netherlands in spring 2026.
For further information about the Forum for European Journalism Students, visit the FEJS website: https://fejs.info/
In case you have questions or remarks, you can always reach out to the FEJS Executive Board (eb@fejsint.org) and/or the FEJS Secretariat (fejssec@gmail.com).
