Empowering Minorities through Journalism Training
Maya (Ukraine), Mila (Ukraine) and Halil (Turkey) are three of six remaining students to stay to the end of the training program.
By Ka Man Mak, Amelia Butkevic, and David Barratt-Due
Oslo_ A journalism training program was created by The Oslo Desk in collaboration with OsloMet and Purple Dragons film collective. 14 participants in Oslo were selected. They came from 12 different countries including Syria, Turkey, Somalia, Ukraine, Costa Rica and Lithuania.
The training program was funded by Oslo Municipality through their integration of refugees grant. The logo OXLO which stands for Oslo Extra Large — a city for all, is a symbolic stamp to all projects given such grants, and represents Oslo municipality’s efforts towards diversity and inclusion.
‘’When I came to Norway I felt a little isolated and I was looking for activities such as this. When I saw this, it probably took me an hour because I need to do everything — I wanted to present all the information about myself in the best way, so I did this really quickly and afterwards completely forgot about it! I get used to that.” said Maya.
Maya Kislykh (21) is from Ukraine and has only lived in Norway for a couple of months. With aspirations to become a professional speaker and political writer, she saw the journalism training program as a great opportunity.
Maya has applied to many workshops and jobs before but never got an answer. This changed with the training program.
“Later I got a private message on my mobile phone which really intrigued me because I don’t get messages in Norway! It was Ka Man, who is the founder of The Oslo Desk. And she was asking, ‘are you coming?’ And I said ‘yeah, yeah! I don’t know what it will be, but I’m coming! That’s definitely yes.”
The training program ran from the 20th October to the 24th November in 2018 with the aim that all participants would learn about the principles of ethical, constructive, and quality journalism. Each participant is to produce an article with visuals by the end of the program.
The Oslo Desk’s ambition is to increase diversity in journalism in Norway. According to the Norwegian Union of Journalists and figures from 2014, only one percent of all journalists in Norway have a minority background. In comparison, immigrants make up 17–19 percent of the population of Norway, and a striking 33 percent in Oslo.
“I want to collaborate with Oslo Desk in the future (…) because it is a community, learning and getting insight from other people (…).” said Maya.
“Maybe in the future we will get back together as a school of journalists,” interjected Amelia Butkevic (30), a Lithuanian participant of the training program who was interviewing her fellow classmates.
“Yes, and party like journalists.” responded Maya.
Maya said that not only did she gain new friends and get in touch with a new community, but she also received new insights and perspectives, particularly when it comes to critical writing.
“I really wanted to learn more. As I said, I have never studied journalism, but I do believe that it’s something that you can learn by just doing it, which is what my mentors was saying.”
Mila Birlenkova (25), also Ukrainian, is in her final year of a joint masters in Parliamentary procedure and legislative drafting. She intends to stay in Oslo with her husband who just received a working contract.
“I got an insight into the profession here on how people work in journalism, so that was interesting.” Mila felt particularly connected with journalism as she had to choose between law and journalism whilst she was studying.
Mila said that the skills and theories she was taught will contribute greatly to her daily life, “In this age, we all do some sort of journalism, [whether] it is publishing on social media [or] describing events in our lives.”
A topic she was particularly interested in was her unofficial status as a refugee due to the conflict in Ukraine. The Oslo Desk prioritised participation from refugees in its promotional materials.
“So that’s the topic that worries me. It draws more of my attention than if it were just another journalism course.”
Students at the training program were taught how to self-care, manage trauma and understand culture shock. The Oslo Desk used some online materials from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a US resource centre.
‘I met some pretty amazing people here — mentors, teachers and students.’
Mila said that no one can stop her from doing both law and journalism, even though she is not currently working with journalism.
“As a lawyer you still need to write, so I hope it will contribute to improving my writing. Maybe in the future I will join the Oslo community of journalists. Who knows?”
Halil Afsar (43) is from Turkey and a refugee residing in Oslo. He holds a master’s degree in political science and international relations.
‘This program was inspiring and it improved my writing skills. I was already interested in writing and with the courage of this program I will continue with a broader perspective.’
Halil is behind the project PlayWithMe, which engages refugees and immigrants in active outdoor and sport activities.
“After participating the training, I had better self-confidence and motivation for preparation and performing the presentation in the project.”
The program has given the talented and diverse international participants tools in critical thinking and associated journalistic skills, but also an opportunity to learn something new and get in touch with a new community.
A statement reflective of this is by Mila, “Try new opportunities. If you see a training program and it maybe is something you want to do or never had the opportunity before and now you have, you should definitely try it. When you start the journey and you don’t always know where it will lead, you should start it.”
Read more about the training program here.
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