Does current events burn into your pores like hot chili sauce? Or are you itching to tell stories in your own way about what is happening in the world? Then Mediahuis, the publisher of De Standaard, among others, is looking for you. Four young people are given the opportunity to work as creative storytellers for a year, and perhaps become the news talent of tomorrow.
In Flanders, Mediahuis is the publisher of the newspapers De Standaard, Nieuwsblad, Het Belang van Limburg and Gazet van Antwerpen. The company is also active across borders in the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and Luxembourg. Newspapers, news sites, apps, podcasts, radio or television, it all comes under the big umbrella.
With Youth Lab, Mediahuis once again offers young storytellers the unique opportunity to work in a newsroom for a year. They receive training from professionals from all over Europe and can sample the complete journalistic buffet. And all this while they receive a salary for a year. The newspapers De Standaard and Het Belang van Limburg will each hire trainees.
“The difference between an intern and a trainee is that the latter is also paid and can follow additional training within the company to refine themselves in new journalistic skills and techniques,” says editor-in-chief Indra Dewitte of Het Belang van Limburg. “Mediahuis even has a kind of in-house university for this purpose, with Mediahuis Academy.”
So many opportunities for young people, but Youth Lab works in both directions. “As a company we can also learn from the young people themselves. How do they view the world? How do they want to receive the news themselves? How do they want to tell their stories? For too long, the media failed to keep up with the ways in which young people communicate with each other, consume news and share stories.”
According to Indra Dewitte, the editorial staff is still not a complete reflection of society. “For example, where are the young people with Turkish or Moroccan or other cultural backgrounds? They also belong in an editorial office. Without them there is a risk that you will miss news or that the view on some themes will become too narrow. The more diverse the composition of journalists, the richer the reporting will be.”
Would you like to nominate yourself for Youth Lab? You can register until Sunday, April 21 (11:59 p.m.), via www.youthlab.be. You will also find all practical information on this site.
