Photo: Veli Granö

Heikki Jokinen, freelance journalist since 1986, will give an overview of the present challenges to freelance journalism in Finland and the other Nordic countries.
Heikki is a well known person to many of us, as he was the Nordic freelance coordinator before Malin took over last year. Heikki is now chair of the Finnish press freelancers’ association. Previously, he was chairman of the Freelance expert group FREG at the European Journalist federation and vice president of Nordisk Journalistförbund.

Heikki has kindly taken over this session, as the previously announced lecturer unfortunately had to cancel her participation at the seminar.

In Finland, 350 freelancers will not work for Sanoma Magazines, caused by bad contracts. The Finnish TV and radio reporters also have a rough time. What kind of similarities and differences do we see for the freelance journalists in the various Nordic countries?

After the lecture, there will be time for discussion.

Conference hall

111 freelance journalists from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway have registered for the Nordic Seminar 2012, at the closing date for registering.
The organisers are more than satisfied. We look forward to see you all in Hurdal!

Anne-Lise, Guri and Sigurd (seminar committee)

Kjetil Stormark

Kjetil Stormark, Norwegian investigative journalist and author of Da terroren rammet Norge, will take part in the panel who will talk about the July 22 terrorist attack.

Jennie Larsson. Photo: Emilia Olofsson

Jennie Larsson, Swedish freelance journalist and board member of Frilans Riks, will share her experience from her part time work in a recruitment agency with us.

Check out the updated program, where you also will find fresh links to background material.

Anders Sømme Hammer photographing Sadaf Fetrat for the Kabul Cards video documentaries. Photo: Sahar Fetrat

Award-winning Anders Sømme Hammer will tell the story of how he since 2007 has made Kabul his base, to work as a single, freelance journalist independent of the allied forces.

Hammer has worked for the news sections of NRK tv and radio, taken part in producing documentaries for NRK and TV2 and reported for, among others, Dagbladet, Dagsavisen, Dagens Næringsliv, Morgenbladet, Norwegian regional papers, periodicals and news agencies. You will meet him at the Nordic seminar.

In 2010, his book Drømmekrigen (‘The Dream War’) about his experience as a war correspondent in Afghanistan, was published. That same year, Frilansjournalistene chose him as Freelancer of the Year.

He was awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize in 2011 by the Norwegian Fritt Ord foundation, who, among other things, said this about the now 34 year old freelancer: «We need people like Anders Hammer. There are too few of them, but at least we have him.»

Critical coverage

From the presentation speech made by Fritt Ord on bestowing him the prestigious prize, we quote:

«Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away.

(…) The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women’s liberation.»

A good war?

«Hammer shows how difficult it can be to combine war and development cooperation in an extremely complex situation like the one in Afghanistan. Development cooperation is frequently seen as an integral part of warfare, and it is becoming increasingly dangerous to be a development cooperation worker.

Hammer is among the people who, early on and increasingly more intently, have asked the question of whether the war in Afghanistan is «the good war». Which direction is development moving in, and what can we expect the result to be? Here, there is a great need to learn more and to hear clear points of view expressed by independent individuals who know what they are talking about.»

«His trademark – independence»

On his first visit to Kabul, Hammer was invited by the armed forces, but he soon left the group of journalists and officers to wander the streets and make man-in-the-street interviews, which was considered extremely dangerous.

In the words of the Fritt Ord jury:

«This was to become his trademark. He wanted to be a freelance and to be independent – not least of the Armed Forces. He also understood that if he was to get a deeper understanding of developments in Afghanistan, he would have to come into contact with the grass roots, meaning he had to take a long-term perspective about settling there, and he had to accept the risk of moving about without any kind of escort. Naturally, the risk was great, but perhaps not quite as great as one might initially think. It can be a bit on the provocative side to show up with an escort. And — he has survived this far.»

You may read the full text of Fritt Ord here.
On Kabul Cards video documentaries by Anders Sømme Hammer and and Christoffer Næss, see presentation from Nobel Peace Center.

Important information about the multimedia workshop

Participants: maximum 10.

What will you learn: This workshop runs through the whole seminar. If the participants want to follow some of the plenum sessions, they can of course do that. During this multimedia-workshop you will learn how to use video, stills and an interview and make a multimedia (video) presentation. To know how to make multimedia and video becomes more and more important for a freelancer.

Kyrre Lien will put an extra emphasis on planning, gathering, constructing and editing, since these are the most important phases when you are making a multimedia video. The workshop will be very practical, with hands-on-experience.

It is up to Kyrre and the participants to get the most out of this workshop, and still talk to other collegues and have some fun.

Preparations: The participant must have an editing program on their PC/Mac – and know how to use it. Any of the Final Cut-programs is preferred. They should bring stills and video clips to make a story. They can also get some from the teacher Kyrre Lien. Bringing your own pictures and video means that you can spend most of the time learning how to tell a visual story with these tools. If the participants have another editing program, they must tell when register.

The workshop: During the workshop, the participant will learn how to put together a multimedia story. They can do so with their own material (videos, photos and interview) or they can get a subject from Kyrre Lien, or they can use material from Kyrre.  In any case we will spend most of the time on the editing process and learn how to build a story in a dramaturgic way.

About Kyrre Lien: Kyrre Lien is 21 years old, and already an experienced photographer and multimedia artist.

He is an Oslo-based editorial and commercial photographer. In spite of his young age, his work has been published in the majority of Norwegian newspapers. As a photographer, he is very versatile and can take on any assignments and is working with stills, video and multimedia. His main client is Scandinavia’s largest picture agency, Scanpix, where he works as a freelance photographer.

Kyrre Lien has made several multimedia projects. I will recommend you to take a closer look at these two:

45 of 5 million

45 video portraits of people from all over Norway. This was a project in collaboration with the newspaper VG, where they every weekend published a portrait of a new person in the newspaper and on the iPad-edition VG+. This was the lead up to Norway becoming five million people on March 19th, 2012.  In total Lien spent 60 days on the road all through Norway and drove some 15.000 kilometers. Read more on http://www.kyrrelien.com/multimedia/45-of-5-million-2

Concrete Love Story

This is a multimedia Kyrre Lien did along with two other students at a workshop in Sweden in 2009. It is a very interesting love story that you have to check out!

«This might be the most intriguing profile I have seen this year. (…) the composition is beautiful and moody throughout. With the opening line, ‘It happened in September 1977 — we got a TV that year,’ the producers offer us the first piece of a puzzle, and the effect is a delicate rendering of a woman’s lifelong, unusual love.» Kassie Bracken at the The New York Times
http://www.kyrrelien.com/multimedia/concrete-love-story

Read more about Kyrre Lien on his website.

Ryan is a reporter and multimedia journalist for Al Jazeera English, where she focuses on North Africa and French politics.

On the opening day of Nordic Seminar, Friday June 1^st, she will talk about her work and open up for questions.

Early on the events

She was covering the Tunisian uprising from its early days, weeks before other English-speaking journalists realised the significance of the protest movement that would soon spread throughout much of the Arab world.

When Ben Ali fell, she traveled to the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid to hear the real story of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young street seller whose act of self-immolation triggered the revolt.

In Tunisia’s new era, Yasmine has continued to report on the political and social transformations taking place in Tunisia since Ben Ali’s departure.

International award

Before joining Al Jazeera, Yasmine worked for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.

She covered the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen for TakePart and attended the UNAIDS Conference in 2010 as a fellow of the National Press Foundation. She also had a stint with The Daily Star in Lebanon.

She was awarded an International Award for Excellence in 2010 for an article on the emigration from Algeria.

From New Zealand

Originally from New Zealand, Yasmine began her career with Scoop, an independent news website. In 2004, she co-authored the book I Almost Forgot About the Moon: The Disinformation Campaign Against Ahmed Zaoui and has an ongoing interest in how so-called anti-terror laws affect civil liberties and the right to dissent.

Yasmine has reported from countries across North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the South Pacific. She is fluent in both French and English. Her Arabic is a work-in-progress.

This information and the photo of her is taken from Yasmine Ryan’s website http://yasmine.org.nz/

Ryman’s latest project is Rites of Life, which focuses on life cycle rituals around the world. First released in 2008, and so far published in seven different languages, his book Rites of Life was awarded the Swedish publishing prize in 2009. During the 1980s Anders pursued post-graduate studies in cultural anthropology, which is reflected in his continued interest in people and cultures.

Anders has published in a wide range of international magazines, including Animan, GEO and National Geographic Nordic.

Worldwide traveller

Everywhere people mark the decisive moments when they pass from one stage in life to another. For more than seven years photographer Anders Ryman has travelled the world documenting such rituals.

His ambition has been to span all inhabited continents, all major religions and all stages of life, encompassing both the traditional and the modern.

With this project Anders has sought to highlight both the great cultural variety of the world and the affinity between all people, irrespective of culture or religion.

Read more: www.ritesoflife.com and www.andersryman.com

Hurdalsjøen hotel is situated by an idyllic lake

The program for the Nordic Freelance Seminar 2012 is being prepared. The main theme will be «The future of freelance journalism». We will look into both technological developments and new trends in the media world, and ask:

What part will the freelance journalist play in tomorrow’s media situation? How can I best prepare myself, to be able to to continue working as a freelancer in the future?

Playground for new media

Eirik Solheim, editor of NRKbeta and project leader of NRK’s development department, will share his thoughts and visions of the future media situation with us. NRKbeta is called «the playground» of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) concerning technology and new media. Solheim is known as an inspiring lecturer.

Irene Pakkanen, media researcher and freelance journalist, will present results from her doctoral dissertation «Let’s Do Story Business. Encounters of Freelancers and Buyers at the Marketplace of Journalism» (University of Jyväskylä 2011).

Employment agencies are coming is the preliminary title of a session, based on the fact that Swedish employment agencies have started offering journalistic services both in Sweden and Norway. The question is, how will this new business affect our profession?

22^nd July, photo and multimedia

The Oslo and Utøya massacre on 22^nd July will be looked into by a panel of people who have followed the events and the media coverage thoroughly. The trial against Anders Behring Breivik will be going on when the Nordic Freelance Seminar is held.

Anders Ryman, Swedish photographer and author, will talk on «photos without borders».

Multimedia workshop will be held, in which the participants shall document the seminar.

Climate and nature

Covering the climate is something that many journalists avoid, due to the high tempered debate and mutual accusations of scientific fraud. Lecturers from the college of journalism at Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, where they have climate journalism on the curriculum, will give us a hand.

There will be walks in the beautiful nature at Hurdalsjøen and other activities.

In addition, several other topics and lecturers will be announced later.

Further information

The seminar will be held at Hurdalsjøen Hotell, from Friday 1^st till Sunday 3^rd June. Hurdalsjøen is situated 30 minutes by bus from Oslo Airport Gardermoen,

We plan to have a maximum price of 2200 Norwegian kroner for the seminar. This includes hotel room and meals from Friday lunch till Sunday lunch, as well as free transport from/to Oslo Airport Gardermoen.

How and when to sign up, and other practical information, will be posted on this website as soon as things are getting settled.

The working group preparing the seminar, consists of Anne-Lise Aakervik, Guri Wiggen og Sigurd Aarvig from Frilansjournalistene, Norway. You may contact us here:

nordicfreelance@gmail.com

Excursion during Nordic Seminar 2011 to the Kronborg castle, where actors performed a scene from Hamlet. Photo: Sigurd Aarvig

Frilansjournalistene/Norway invites freelance journalists from all the Nordic countries to the Nordic Freelance Seminar 2012 at Hurdalsjøen outside Oslo.

The seminar’s overall topic will be «The Future of Freelance Journalism». We will look into different aspects, such as: new technological solutions; social media; alternative models for financing and collaborating; defending copyrights; better bargaining for payment; social welfare.

From Friday 1st till Sunday 3rd June, food for mind and stomach, party… See you at Hurdalsjøen!