When was the last time you had the opportunity to stand in front of a crowd of young journalists from all over Europe and discuss your national history with them? Hear the story about Latvian bread first hand? Compare your own viewpoints of the world of media after 50 years with those of your fellow colleagues?

If you are a fledgling journalist from Macedonia as I am, such encounters don’t happen too often. However, a weekend in Potsdam, Germany, proved that the political isolation of the Balkan region, has not put any limits on the intellectual freedom and the freedom of expression. This year’s third M100 Workshop for young journalists from all over Europe gathered 35 journalists-in-the-making in Potsdam. Several heated debates proved that Europe shares similar points of view on some of the most complex contemporary media issues: the idea of homeland within the new globalized world, the emergence of the internet as an all-encompassing medium, ethics vs. political and economical influences, religious tolerance, censorship, and many more “edgy” topics.

In between a fairytale setting of rich romantic architecture and enchanting parks, long plane travels and suitcases full of summer clothes unsuitable for the chilly northern weather, we patiently awaited for the official opening of the workshop on Friday at 6 pm. Panel discussion between some of the most famous names in German journalism. Me sneezing in the middle of the mayor’s welcome speech. Different accents to English. Highlights of the messages addressed to the young journalists:
- lie only if you don’t know that you’re lying.
- don’t accept bribes from anyone.
- when in doubt, don’t do it.

The next day was marked by the three different workshops we all took part in: the idea of globalization, reporting on religious issues, and the case of the Danish cartoons.
Our discussions found common ground and at the end of the day we agreed that: globalization will make the idea of homeland and national identity stronger, the internet will never get the monopoly over the media, the question of personal security will put limits on our freedom of expression, and the dialogue between cultures will become crucial for objective reporting.

Sunday was the day when we put our brains and hands to work and produced individual articles, photo stories, and videos regarding the themes discussed during the previous two days. The results are displayed on http://orangelog.eu/
if you want to have a look and comment.

Do you know what is the longest word in the English language? It’s smiles, because it has a mile in between. And a weekend is the shortest time to spend in the company of such good journalists, and wonderful people.

In the context of the M100 Youth Media Workshop 2006 35 participants from five countries (Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany) conceived and developed the multimedia internet platform www.orangelog.eu which is used actively and constantly updated. Thanks to this website the European youth media organisations are able to communicate easily and without delay with one another and make appointments, exchange texts and topics as well as promote young talent.

Representatives of the M100 Media Workshop will demonstrate the results of their meetings within the framework of the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium.