1. Meeting in Farum

November 2022 – Denmark, Copenhagen:

Before the first meeting in Farum all the students had worked with the traditional medias of their country preparing a presentation to describe the media use and media networks of their country.

On arrival on Sunday the Italian and Turkish students met with the project coordinator Lone and their host families in Farum. In the afternoon we attended a local football match to experience local sports culture and get to know each other doing activities together.

On Monday morning we all met at Marie Kruses School in Farum for an official welcoming meeting and introduction to the programe of the week. The students had a guided tour at the school and the surroundings and meet other students of the school during the activities planned. The project work of the week kickstarted with presentation in groups of the Turkish, Danish and Italian traditional media networks. Also we had time to do a nice energizer, where we were introduced to Turkish and Italian traditional dance.

Teacher’s meeting about the program and students well-being in the families.

On Tuesday the students attended a normal school class held in English about geography, climate changes and the communication in the media of climate change impacts. After this the students worked in groups about the assignments and presentations of the week with the title Democratic dialogue in Traditional and Social Media. The students reflected on the debates and discussions taking place in both radio, podcasts, newspapers and on different social media platforms. They discussed and reflected on the differences between these types of media and the possibilities and limits of having a democratic dialogue based on what Jürgen Habermas calls communicative rationality.

Teacher’s meeting about the program and aims of the presentations and student’s group work.

On Wednesday students worked on their presentations in groups during the start of the day, and at noon we made a bazar with the presentations in the school auditorium. The Turkish Ambassador of education in Copenhagen made a visit to the school and listened to presentations. Afterwards the Ambassador had a conversation about his work in Denmark and the use of media in Denmark and Turkey with the students. After lunch the students attended the Sports class, where a Danish National dance called lanciers, which is used for the school prom, was being taught.

Teacher’s meeting with evaluation and documentation of the presentations.

Thursday students and teachers went to Copenhagen to get a guided tour at the Danish Broadcast Radio and TV-station in Amager (called “DR”). We saw both sites for broadcasting TV shows, radio programs and recording podcasts. Also we learned about the traditional media’s criterias for selecting news and contributing to the democratic dialogue among the users of their products.

After lunch we met with Michael Jarlner who is the chief editor at the newspaper of Politiken. Politiken is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independent of the party but maintains a liberal stance. Michael Jarlner told about the newspapers in Denmark and their history with relations to the economic classes of the people. He was very curious to discuss the difficulties for written newspapers today making themselves relevant to young people, especially in the competition from the free production of news from social medias. We had a nice discussion about what you pay for, when you sign up for at news paper websites – that you get more critically selected and well-produced news made by a professional journalist, but also the biases of the subjective selection of news that takes part within traditional media as well. Also the meeting touched on the use and creation of fake news during war and during political campaigns.

The day ended up with a selfie run from the Municipality Square to the little Mermaid, where the students in groups went to different touristic sites and took selfie photos on their way.

On Friday the group went to visit the castle of Kronborg in Helsingør, home of the statue of Ogier the Dane (“Holger Danske”), a warrior heroe. Also Kronborg is where Shakespeare’s story about Hamlet takes place. The play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother. It is a story of lies and manipulation in former times, which is still relevant as of today. After the guided tour inside the historic castle we made a walk in the old part of Helsingør finding the alleys Gl. Færgestræde, Skyttensstræde and Brostræde.

Farewell dinner and get-together at the Marie Kruses School in Farum. Distribution of certificates to the participants and evaluation of the week.

On Saturday the visiting students said goodbye to their host families and traveled back to their countries.