At the initiative of a group of young journalists from several different media, on December 15, 2021, a section of young journalists was established at AJM. In the meeting, the forty participants that attended, debated what will be the priorities and goals of this section in 2022. Networking among the media, improving the social and economic status of young journalists, upgrading their skills for advanced reporting and respecting the standards in the field of journalism – were some of the topics discussed at the forum.
The purpose of establishing the section is primarily to promote journalism as an attractive profession, because today there is less interest in it and many media are facing a serious problem to find journalists. In addition, the goal of the section is to build greater solidarity in the journalistic profession and to further upgrade the knowledge as professionals in the sector. In addition to popularization, the section will in the future, through capacity building, enable young journalists to get not only the opportunity to hear experiences from other media and a historical overview of how things have changed, but also about professional standards and red lines in the profession.
One of the strategic goals of AJM is building of capacities and the improvement of the working conditions in the media, as well as the improvement of the cooperation of the young journalists with their more experienced. This kind of cooperation will contribute to more active involvement of young people in creating a professional environment for the future journalists.
Mladen Chadikovski, President of AJM, Saska Cvetkovska, Coordinator of the Initiative for Establishment of the Section of Young Journalists at AJM and Dragan Sekulovski, Executive Director of AJM, addressed the event and presented the goal for the establishment of the Section of Young Journalists.