As local journalism faces a crisis across Europe, YoCoJoin has produced a roadmap for a different kind of journalism – one that is local, participatory, and future-facing.
YoCoJoin – Youth Community Journalism Initiative – has been working with more than 150 young people – from primary school to university students to produce news as community reporters, in an effort to strengthen journalism and democracy.
The key lessons from the project have been published in a YoCoJoin Workbook aimed at local media organisations, educators, youth workers, and anyone interested in making journalism more accessible, relevant, and representative.
The Workbook:
- Demonstrates how to embed youth community journalism into different contexts – whether in a newsroom, a school, or a local community centre.
- Provides step-by-step guidance on how to build a youth-centred journalism ecosystem, engage and train young people, produce content with them, and make the work sustainable.
- Includes tools, templates, and real-world examples from across Europe, along with voices from the young journalists and mentors themselves.
Participants in the project say it has given them an opportunity to strengthen their skills. They say defences against disinformation and propaganda would be stronger with more local, youth-led journalism initiatives.
“I got to know some wonderful mentors and friends along this journey, and also got a chance to bring the voice of the community I care about to the news platform,” said Ngoc Thien An Nguyen, a YoCoJoin journalist.
YoCoJoin has also launched a manifesto calling for action to continue and expand upon its impactful work.
A-new-push-for-European-Democracy-Quest-for-independent-and-sustainable-local-journalism-in-the-service-of-the-community-We-the-partners-of-YoCoJoin-have-experienced-firsthand-the-va“From our YoCoJoin experience, local newsrooms benefit significantly from the fresh insights, unique experiences, and digital expertise that young journalists bring, rejuvenating and enhancing their content and audience engagement.”
Several partner organisations have already committed to sustaining their youth journalism initiatives, and the manifesto invites media organisations, local authorities, educators, and communities everywhere to join this ongoing effort and commit to the following principles:
- Empower local news outlets
- Strengthen local authorities
- Empower the youth
- Defend local media as a pillar of democracy
YoCoJoin was launched as a European collaboration between seven local media organisations, including Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans in Serbia and Media Diversity Institute Global in Belgium, with Omroep Tilburg in the Netherlands leading the project. Other partners include Zavod Časoris in Slovenia, SideStreet Malta, the Dublin Inquirer in Ireland, and Nyugat Media in Hungary.
