Mie Olsen on why you should apply for the Nordic Youth Media Days

It didn’t take me long time to answer, when the Nordic Press Association board approached me this spring to ask, if I wanted to plan the 2020 NYMD-seminar in Copenhagen. I had just finished an amazing week of intense team work with Nordic colleagues, been on sightseeing-trips in Stockholm, eaten in lovely vegan restaurants, heard inspiring talks with top media makers and done hands-on work in the city. Tired and happy, I immediately responded: “Yes”!

A unique opportunity for aspiring media makers

The Nordic Press Association has arranged the yearly seminar “Nordic Youth Media Days” for years now. In brief, the seminar is all about getting young media makers from, or living in, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland together for five days to collaborate on a topic through workshops, talks and exercises. The NYMD is a treat for young media makers under 30 to get a splendid (and paid!) trip to a Nordic capital and to expand their network and obtain professional leverage.

For me, it all started in Helsinki, where I found myself part of an engaged group of diverse Nordic journalists and content creators experimenting with mobile recording in the snowy streets. I felt like I was in the middle of a summer camp (which is ironic considering the weather conditions). Within just a week, I had made new friends from formerly estranged cities such as Bergen, Turku and Stavanger.

My knowledge of mobile journalism expanded, and I knew some great hubs in the Finnish capital. The next year, I didn't think twice, before applying to the Stockholm seminar with the theme “how to report on migration more diversely in the media”.   

What we do in the planning team

I am not going to lie – being part of the organizing team is a big responsibility. As lovely as it is for participants to have everything paid, someone needs to make all the arrangements with hotels, guest speakers, funding, food, locations, materials and content well in advance. That requires hard work and good connections.

Since last summer, me and my team have met on regular basis in cafés and our homes in Copenhagen to come up with a master plan of how to make Nordic Youth Media Days in 2020 even better! We have made some bold decisions to cut down on the amount of group work and maximize the focus on practical tools, and we have come up with a captivating topic and an ambitious program (if I may say so).

Re-establishing the lost connection

We quickly agreed that we wanted the changing media landscape and the challenged role of the journalist to be at the heart of the seminar. What are the particular strengths of the reporter in the news landscape today, and is it central to democracy, we asked ourselves. Under the headline “Re-establishing the lost connection”, we have now launched our call for participants!

I am both proud and excited to review the applications and finalize preparations for the seminar, which will be held 15-19. April. Without revealing too much, I can safely say that we are bringing in some pioneering experts in fields as diverse as narrative structure, objectivity and verification, constructive journalism and community reporting.

For example, we have a competent guest speaker in storytelling, the Danish journalist Line Vaaben, who is going to take the participants into her narrative universe. She was recently nominated for the Cavling award, a Danish Pulitzer price equivalent, for her work at the newspaper Information.

And now for the best part…

As this article goes to print, there is still time for you to apply for the seminar! If you are a young media maker (30 or under) currently residing in a Nordic country (regardless of national background), then go for it and send in your application here: https://nordicpress.org

Deadline is midnight on 15. January.