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• Water & Agriculture Programs
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  (Cyprus Friendship Program)
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  • Journalism
  • Bicommunal Radio Program
    

Young Cypriot journalists that came from both sides of the island pose for a photo in Washington, DC

Hasan Kahvecioglu (second from right), producer of the Talk of the Island radio program, Kyriakos Pierides (second from left) ,co-host, and Yucel Koseoglu (left), translator, with guests during a live broadcast.

Communication Programs

• Citizen Journalism for Cypriot Youth
• Bicommunal Radio Program
• Young Journalists Project
• Reconciliation Now Project
• New Media Landscape Now

The media tremendously influences Greek and Turkish Cypriots’ perceptions of the prospect for peaceful coexistence. Consequently, journalism plays a substantial role in determining the direction of inter-communal relations in Cyprus and ultimately resolution of the conflict.

HasNa’s communication programs are designed to develop objective journalistic perspectives. Activities emphasize ethics in print and broadcast media as well as how to deliver unbiased analysis and reporting. HasNa’s media training programs expand the opportunities Greek and Turkish Cypriots have to cooperate with each other.

Citizen Journalism for Cypriot Youth

Challenge

Biased journalism is a major influence in Cyprus and has furthered misunderstanding between the two communities. There is a growing need for news that is prepared by and for youth, using digital social networking as an effective media platform.

Solution

The ways we conduct journalism, activism, and storytelling have changed drastically in recent years. Online and grassroots reporting have all but replaced traditional ways we receive the news.

HasNa’s Citizen Journalism Training Program embraces this new form of journalism. The program which took place June 20th - June 27th, 2011, was developed with HasNa's local partners in Cyprus, the Management Centre and Cyprus Community Media Centre. The goal of the program was to empower Cypriot youth with the techniques of digital storytelling and the principles of citizen journalism to enable them to produce bi-communal news stories and increase interaction between the communities.

Desired Impact

The program brought Cypriots from opposite sides of divided Cyprus together to share their own stories and to communicate stories of mutual understanding to a larger audience.

At the end of the training, one of the participants reflected: "I didn't know any Turkish-Cypriots... I am twenty-six years old living in the same island and never had the chance to interact with people from the other community. This camp was a unique opportunity..."

The participants of the program decided to form a committee for future meetings and joint-projects they named Randevu. "I also feel hopeful about continuing with actual activism with the group of our camp, as we will certainly stay in contact with each other."

HasNa looks forward to supporting the bi-communal media projects they develop together in the future.

Bi-Communal Radio Program

In 2005, HasNa initiated the Talk of the Island Radio Program, the first bi-communal radio program in Cyprus. The purpose of the radio program is to foster understanding, communication and respect between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots by examining the similarities and differences between the two communities’ through issues that affect them both.

The program also features a unique call-in option for listeners that allows Talk of the Island to serve as a much needed forum for promoting inter-community dialogue.

Program topics have included:

• The opening of the wall along Ledra Street, which had divided the Greek and Turkish sides of Nicosia for 44 years
• The use of the Euro as the new currency in the South and its implications for the rest of the island
• Water shortages on both sides of the island
• The obstacles to dialogue between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities

The radio program, which was created in collaboration with two local Cypriot non-profits – the Management Center and the Center for Neuroscience and Technology Institute (CNTI), is broadcast live every Saturday by Radyo Mayis in the North. In 2006, the program was awarded its first significant grant from the United States Institute for Peace.

This funding allowed Talk of the Island to adopt high-technology radio and phone lines and thus enabled Talk of the Island to become the only program, other than the UN, to be allowed to operate radio lines on both sides of the island.

Young Journalists Project

In 2002, HasNa collaborated with peace activists in Cyprus to conduct the Young Journalists Project. This project gave ten young journalists from Cyprus the opportunity to come to the Washington, DC for training that focused on ethics in reporting, objectivity in analyzing statistical information and discussions on moving away from biased reporting methods. Cypriots from both sides of the island were able to interact with each other during the program and develop a more objective journalistic stance on the issue of bi-communality.

The job shadowing program was arranged with NPR to provide participants with the chance to observe journalism techniques in the field. The participants learned cutting edge news analysis so that they were better able to inform and educate the Cypriot public on issues which affect both the Greek and Turkish-Cypriot communities.

The aim of the program is to reach the next generation of journalists on the island and provide them with the tools to broaden the perspective of their respective communities, with the ultimate goal of bringing integration to the island of Cyprus.

Reconciliation Now Project

In September 2003, HasNa unveiled its plans to work with two leading Cypriot peace organizations, the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute (CNTI) and The Management Center to support reconciliation programs. Three workshops have been held in Cyprus bringing together more than 250 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot business people to build economic cooperation, especially where it might redress economic disparities between North and South Cyprus.

In addition, a series of Media Literacy workshops was launched. These workshops equipped participants with a better understanding of how biases and prejudices shape people’s perceptions as well as the skills needed to critically analyze print, broadcast, and online media. Recognizing the biases that exists in media reporting is an important first step to changing them.

New Media Landscape Now

In 2007, HasNa partnered with the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute on an eight month long project called New Media Landscape Now. The aim of the project was to bring journalists from both sides of divided Cyprus together in order to produce a stronger vision of the ideal media landscape on the island and to develop a set of politically neutral terms which can be used when reporting news on the island.

The project culminated in a conference that brought 24 journalists – 12 from each side of the island – together to brainstorm and finalize a vision of the future media landscape in Cyprus. From this, the journalists developed an action plan with steps towards a feasible transformation of the existing media landscape.

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