Finland Times

 

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The Barents Mediasphere project has published a Barents Media Guide, which serves both the journalists from inside and outside of the Barents region and the other public having interest in the theme, said a press release.

 

The web guide includes the basic information about the media in the whole Barents Region presented in a form of a map. It also gives practical information essential for the work of journalists about the region and how to act there. 

 

On the website http://www.barentsinfo.org/guide there are also video stories addressing the journalistic work on the Barents region and the cooperation networks of the regional media.

 

The Kolarctic ENPI-funded Barents Mediasphere project run during 2012-2014 was aimed at enhancing cross-border information. The lead partner was the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland and other partners were BarentsObserver and GTRK Murman. The Media Guide provides the information and experiences produced by the project.

 

One part of the project was a survey directed to the journalists in the Barents region. The analysis of its results can be read on the website of the BarentsObserver online magazine.

 

“The survey clearly told that the journalists in the Barents region have much interest to write stories about their neighbouring countries and the life there. Many practical reasons such as the lack of time, tight finances and the focusing of the editors to the domestic region only, however, cause that the cross-border reporting is very scarce”, says the Head of Science Communications at the Arctic Centre, Markku Heikkilä, who was the project director.

 

“The Barents Media Guide is meant to help cross-border working, to give basic information and to bring out, that the journalists working in the region have much in common”, says Heikkilä. The proper publication event of the Media Guide will take place in the journalist network Barents Press International’s annual meeting scheduled to be held in Oulu on March 21, the press release added.