"The workshop is a wonderful space to meet new and inspiring people."

As part of this year’s IF News workshop, seven emerging journalists – Martina Koplíková, Lucie Kubelková, Timon Láska, Martin Pospíšek, Monika Růžičková, Tamara Tomášková, and Petra Vavřinová – joined the production of the festival’s media outputs. The aim of the workshop is to introduce journalism and media students to the fundamentals of festival reporting and online content production, offer an in-depth look at key issues in today’s media landscape, encourage reflection on current IF themes, and provide opportunities to meet and discuss with leading figures of the Czech media scene.

"I really enjoyed the morning coffee meet-ups. It was so pleasant to chat informally with journalists. I also felt very positive about meeting the other participants – people I would probably never have encountered otherwise."

This year, participants met with Klára Odstrčilová, PhD candidate and researcher at IKSŽ FSV UK, to discuss how Czech newsrooms approach young journalists. They also spoke with journalist Štěpán Sedláček, who shared his experience working at Respekt and creating podcasts, as well as with Klára Votavová, with whom they explored how one even begins to write – and that there is no single direct path into journalism. With Hynek Trojánek, they took part in a session focused on reporting on AI in the context of human rights, and with journalists from the initiative "Enthusiasm Won’t Pay the Rent" – Anežka Bartlová, Miloš Hroch, and Táňa Zabloudilová – they discussed the realities of Czech cultural journalism, how to pursue fair compensation, and how to write about culture without burning out.

Student outputs were published on @inspiracni_forum, and in 2024 will also appear in our newsletters or be available at inspiracniforum.cz.

The workshop took place with the support of Novinářského inkubátoru (the Journalism Incubator).