Journalists from print and broadcast media taking part in the Press Forum at Collège Mont des Accords (from left) Guadeloupe 1ere, IOTV, 97150, Radio St. Martin and “The Daily Herald”.
MARIGOT--The annual national Week of the Press (Semaine de la Presse) took place last week with a number of planned activities for students that included interviews with elected officials and question-and-answer sessions with journalists. Press Week was supervised by National Education’s Chargée de Mission, Evelyne Fleming.
The theme this year was “news on all fronts.” Participating media included Radio St. Martin (101.5FM), IOTV, Guadeloupe 1ere, Fax Info, Soualiga Post, 97150, The Daily Herald and Collège Mont des Accords radio station Radio Scolaire 102.1FM.
Emile Choisy School pupils with Natson Paul, head of the Collectivité’s audio-visual department that produces the on-line newspaper “Our News”, at one of a number of planned activities for students that included interviews with elected officials and question-and-answer sessions with journalists during national Week of the Press (Semaine de la Presse) last week.
Students conducted interviews, prepared by their teachers, with Vice-Recteur Harry Christophe, President of the Collectivité Louis Mussington and Préfet Vincent Berton. A press forum at College Mont des Accords on Tuesday, March 28, invited schools to question journalists on their profession in French and English. Taking part were Guadeloupe 1ere, IOTV, 97150, Radio St. Martin, and The Daily Herald.
There were three 40-minute sessions in all, the first with the 3rd, 4th and 6th grade classes of College Mont des Accords; the second with classes from Aline Hanson School, Hervé Williams School and Marie-Amelie Leydet School; and the third with the 3rd-grade class from College La Roche Gravée de Moho in French Quarter.
Interestingly, more questions came from the youngest students than the older ones, when the opposite was expected. Journalists conveyed the importance of gathering news and obtaining the facts from reliable and credible sources, and being particularly wary of “fake” news on social media, reporting from which could have grave consequences.
The second highlight of the week was the IOTV team experimenting with a new TV programme concept with the students: the Dilemma, an original concept that consists of weighing up points of view of students and young people in general on subjects that speak to them.
A TV set was set up in the Collège Mont des Accords multi-purpose room and pupils were able to attend and participate in recording the programme, which will be broadcast later on the local channel 38 on Canal + and 8 on Orange. Three sessions were organised with three different questions to which the students had to answer “yes” or “no”: Do social networks have an influence on fashion? Are you for or against a grading system at school? Should violent video games be banned?
Afterwards, the pupils were encouraged by facilitator Loïc Lagoutte to argue their choice of answer.
Also, as part of Press Week, the Collectivité and its Communication Department welcomed eight students from the Émile Choisy School CM1 class and their teacher Youri Boudhou to the Communication Department’s audio-visual unit. The visit focused on the four stages of production of the weekly on-line newspaper “Our News.”
