FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! NEWS RELEASE PARTNERSHIP APPEAL BY YOUTH REPORTERS AT JOHANNESBURG ENVIRONMENT SUMMIT Johannesburg, South Africa, July 2002 The Global Youth Reporters, an international group of young people with fresh views on environmental problems, are seeking media and other partners to work with at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg next month. We aim to provide a young people's view of what the world leaders at the Summit are doing about the environment, ten years after their last big meeting in Rio de Janeiro. We are looking for partners to help communicate our reports around the world, he added. We believe we can offer some fresh angles, particularly for media without their own reporters at the Summit. The Johannesburg reporting operation will consist of eight young reporters, aged 18 to 26, from eight countries: Argentina, Australia, Czech Republic, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, UK and USA. The reporters will write reports on issues which catch their attention at the Summit, with special emphasis on youth angles. Their articles will be published on a new website [www.gyrp.net under construction], distributed to conference delegates and offered for publication to national and international media. The Global Youth Reporters Programme, now entering its third year, was established to provide a high standard of reporting, by young people for young people, on environmental and sustainable development issues. The concept was first tested at the Congress of IUCN - The World Conservation Union in Amman, Jordan, in 2000 and has since been developed through professional training courses and reporting operations at other international conferences. The GYRP has the endorsement of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Other partners offering various forms of support and cooperation include the Global Responsibility Foundation (Switzerland), the Global Youth Network (South Africa), the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (Sweden), Newsweek International and Sony International - Europe. END Note to Editors Question and Answer Paper attached. To discuss possible cooperation or for further information, please contact: Mr. Mirza Delibegovic The Global Youth Reporters Programme International Coordinator - World Summit on Sustainable Development Email: [log in to unmask] Fax.: + 44 7092 367 410 July 2002 Global Youth Reporters Programme (GYRP) World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Reporting Operation (Johannesburg, 26 August to 4 September, 2002) Q & A Paper Q. Who are you? A. The Global Youth Reporters Programme is a not-for-profit international voluntary project with no political affiliations or views. It is endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It is run by young people from different countries who first met through an environmental awareness programme developed by the University of Lund, Sweden. It benefits from the support of a number of international environmental and media professionals. Q. What is your purpose? A. Our primary objective is to mobilise people and particularly young people worldwide to involve themselves in sustainable development issues. Q. Why ëYouth Reportersí? A. We believe in the power of communicating ideas through the media. Our aim is to reach more people through various local and international media, inform them about environmental and sustainable development issues and inspire them to become involved in these global processes. Q. Why are you looking for partners? A. We would like to work with established media of all kinds in order to achieve the distribution of our reports to the widest possible audience around the world. Q. What kind of partners are you seeking? A. All kinds of reputable media: print, broadcasting and electronic. including internet portals, websites and syndication services. We would also be happy to offer our reports to educational institutions, NGOs and voluntary organisations. Q. What are your partnership terms? A. Non-financial! We are looking for distribution and name recognition. We are prepared to offer our reports free of charge to reputable media organisations with the option to publish at their discretion. Our only conditions are that they must give credit to the Global Youth Reporters Programme (GYRP), as owner of the copyright and intellectual property rights, and they must not distort the content of our reports. We will also ask media partners to mention our website address. Q. What kind of contractual agreement are you seeking? A. A simple exchange of letters between GYRP and each partner. Q. What is the proposed scope of the partnership? A. This appeal is for short-term partnership, just for the duration of the World Summit. After the Summit, we plan to consult with all interested parties about longer-term cooperation. Q. What service will you be offering from the World Summit? A. We aim to offer a daily selection of text articles in English covering a range of WSSD activities and issues, selected by the Youth Reporters. The reports will be delivered as e-mail attachments in Word format, unless any other specific arrangements are agreed. In addition, some photographs may be offered in electronic form. Q. Are you prepared to offer any exclusive deals? A. We would be happy to consider offering the exclusivity of our main WSSD service to a single publication in a single country on terms which we could discuss, such as publishing a certain number of our articles ñ and perhaps running a feature of their own about our work! We would also welcome requests to cover specific topics on an exclusive basis. We would simply reserve the right to publish all such articles on our own website, after an agreed delay and with an acknowledgement if required to the commissioning publication. 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