Nov 30th, 10:00 – 16:00 EET
Online seminar
Language: English, with a translation to Russian
Vaccine resistance has become a major challenge in the fight against Covid-19 worldwide, not the least in the Baltic countries and Russia. Disinformation about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines incites the resistance. The result is many needless deaths.
The situation makes the demand for investigative journalism even more apparent. This seminar will provide you with tips and tools, inspiration and knowledge to help you make the evidence-based journalism the public need.
Welcome address
Nils Hanson
programme director
The Vaccine Warriors
The Swedish journalists infiltrated the anti-vaccine movement in Scandinavia and the USA before the pandemic broke out. By going undercover for 1,5 years, they could tell a story about the anti-vaxxers that had never been told before. The documentary serial reveals who the most influential persons in this movement are, how their hidden motivations look like and which secret methods they use to convince parents to risk their kids’ lives by not vaccinating them.
The team will share their experience and answer questions such as how it was to go undercover for such a long time, the pros and cons of an undercover operation and how the reactions were when they finally disclosed themselves.
The lecture will also provide you with some handy research advice and undercover tricks.
Malin Olofsson and Johanna Torshall Svensson
Swedish Television (SVT)
Coffee break
The Vaccine Warriors, cont.
Malin Olofsson and Johanna Torshall Svensson
Swedish Television (SVT)
Lunch break
The disinformation
The COVID-19 infodemic, the overabundance of information (including false or misleading) proved to be a significant issue when it comes to preventing unnecessary deaths from the virus.
Digital engagement spaces, powered by attention-driven algorithms, provide fertile ground for sowing confusion and misbeliefs about the virus which we then observe not only in social media comments, but also in physical environments – dinner tables, shops, hospitals, and city squares.
Evidence shows that false and misleading facts about the virus, facemasks and vaccination are used and abused by individuals seeking financial, political objectives or just enjoying their influence.
How to identify such activities, individuals behind them, their goals and tactics? What can we learn from COVID-19 disinformation campaigns so far?
Nika Aleksejeva
DFRLab
Coffee break
The Lessons learned
What means of communication did the Latvian government adopt to encourage the public to book an appointment at a vaccination site and persuade the vaccine-sceptics? Lessons learned and the future of vaccine communication with real-life examples from the past eleven months.
More effective science communication by the media will be discussed and its role in helping the government achieve high vaccination levels. How to talk about side effects? Was the focus on herd immunity ill-sighted? How to translate vaccine effectiveness numbers into simple language?
Nikita Trojanskis
National Health Service of Latvia
June 9 & June 20
Online, Zoom platform
The project aims to provide journalists, editors, and media managers of the independent Russian-language media outlets in Estonia with new skills, knowledge, and insights to become more resilient. The hybrid format of the project includes both online and offline training and consultations. The project is continuing the training series which started in 2021.
The project is organized by the Centre for Media Studies at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. The programme will be led by well-known professional journalists, media managers and lecturers.
For additional information: please, contact the Programme Coordinator:
Julia Rodina (julia.rodina@sseriga.edu)
How to prevent burn-out. Coping mechanisms and tools for journalists when covering war and working with tragic topics.
Dr Taras Ivaschenko
psychotherapist, specialist in psychosomatic medicine, consulting patients and taking part in SSE Riga Media Centre projects for journalists
Defining and creating your brand.
Maria Leonova
media consultant with international experience, Jnomics and the Fix media outlet project lead, chief marketing officer at Hromadske.ua
Marketing for media in 2022 – what are the main changes and trends we can predict. Launching new projects in 2022 – is it possible?
Aleksander Amzin
media expert, author, founder of Signal project (Meduza), journalist of the Kit project, founder of the media for journalists themedia.center, worked as publisher at the Bell and consulted media outlets and companies from other fields
June 17, 2021; 13:00 – 17:00 EET
Online, Zoom platform
Newsroom leaders often have to solve complex challenges working with stakeholders from numerous teams. Design thinking is an established methodology for better understanding the roots of complex problems and opportunities, designing creative solutions, and maximizing the use of available resources in pursuit of a defined goal. Design thinking is often used in product development, but the methods and processes can also support effective strategy design, decision making and new editorial initiatives. This is a hands-on workshop where you’ll put design thinking methods into practice, and become confident in leading design sprints with your team.
May 27, 2021; 13:00 – 17:00 EEST
Online, Zoom platform
In a digital world where every brand, publisher and influencer is innovating and fighting for the attention of its consumers, owning the attention of Gen Z is one of the biggest challenges for marketers and media executives. What differentiates Gen Z from the older millennials and what that means in terms of building brand proposition and communication? This workshop will look at a framework to approach building detailed personas of Gen Z going beyond the simple demographics. We will dive deep into the importance of social media strategy specifically for Gen Z while planning brand awareness and engagement strategy. Finally, we will look at the ways publishers can monetise the strength of its audiences and content to build strong advertiser relationships through deep sponsorships, innovation, experiences and advertising.
February 25, 2021; 14:00 – 18:00 EET
Online, Zoom platform