A Swiss-supported youth employment programme has come up with innovative media programmes that inform and encourage young job-seekers to look for and find employment. The Embassy of Switzerland through its youth employment programme RisiAlbania, and together with the Department of Journalism, University of Tirana, brought together media experts, journalists and students to present several innovative models of how media can report to and inform youth about the labour market. Several new formats for offering job information are now available for interested media channels.
“Finding work is the most crucial task for any person, and especially so for young people. Experience shows that students who participate in skills-based learning have an easier time in the job market, in terms of finding and keeping employment”, said Swiss Ambassador Christoph Graf during his greeting speech. “We have some great examples of TV shows, press columns and radio programmes that inform and encourage youngsters in employment matters. Approximately one hundred innovative media products are now available to be used including talk shows, articles, columns, and other formats”, continued Ambassador Graf as he talked about the new media formats introduced by RisiAlbania.
The conference was opened by the Dean of Faculty of History and Philology, Shezai Rrokaj, who focused on preparing students of journalism for reporting on specific sectors such as employment. “Labour market reporting is an important part of the media’s agenda. Young people need the right information when they orientate themselves in their careers and job market”, said Mr. Rrokaj in his speech.
A unique experience of media reporting on jobs and employment came to this conference by Martin Küper, Head of the Editorial Department “Business and Consumer” at the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) Television in Germany. He presented the experience of this renowned public German media channel in covering issues of employment and offering useful job information to young audiences. “As it seems to be now in Germany the internet is the best way to reach young people with information on labour market – even with the content produced for traditional TV”, said Mr. Küper.
Several TV and press media channels were present at the conference and actively participated in the discussions that ensued the presentations by experts. The situation of media reporting on the job sector was presented by the Chief of Department of Journalism and Communication, Artan Fuga. “Job market reporting in Albania is not satisfactory. Media channels are generalist, they run after political news, and they don’t report on soft news or what concerns people’s everyday life. A radical transformation is needed in our media model. A change of mentality must occur at owner, manager and journalist level”, said Mr. Fuga.
Youth unemployment is a challenge for Albania with some figures stating that 30% of youth are unemployed or under-employed. This could have serious consequences on the country’s economy and future. It is estimated that around 700,000 young people and their families currently are interested in job-related information but cannot find it from traditional media. This opportunity was seized by RisiAlbania and over the last year several media products and business models have been developed, that could be used to better inform young people about careers, jobs and education.
RisiAlbania was set up by the Swiss government to boost new, innovative and attractive models for job information, match-making and skills development. The core work during the last year consisted in working with the media to increase the number and quality of job information programmes. Of particular interest is the creation of models whereby private media channels can profitably establish new formats and shows in the context of limited resources and finance. The programme also managed to insert a new module in the curriculum of the Department for Journalism and Communications. Students can now learn innovative ways of covering employment and labour market issues. The end beneficiaries are young women and men who need accurate and timely information regarding jobs and careers.
