Neun Blogger aus sechs Ländern mit vielen Geschichten: Hier stellt sich unsere Redaktion vor, die täglich vom internationalen Rechercheworkshop berichtet.

Meet our international blogger team!

I am Josta van Bockxmeer. I am from Amsterdam originally and  I live in Berlin now where I studied Comparative Literature. I am a freelance journalist. I write about science, culture and education, and also about Berlin and things ‘typically German’. I worked for the daily newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and die tageszeitung, and in Amsterdam for De Correspondent, Het Parool and Duitslandweb.

 

 

 

Hi, my name is Nehal El-Sherif and I’m from Cairo, Egypt. It’s not easy to talk about myself, therefore I will tell you a short story: Once upon a time there was a girl who spent all her free time reading books. The girl got older and time to choose a profession came. She studied English literature and she was good at writing stories. She wished to show them to the world. She chose to be a journalist.
Today this story continues. I work as a freelancer. My articles are like short stories of people I meet. To enhance my professional skills, I like to meet new people and this is why I’m glad to be part of the PNJ-seminar.

I am Kseniya Schasnaya, a journalist from Minsk, Belarus.
I have been working at The Republican newspaper for six years, covering many subjects such as culture, youth policy and education. I decided to become a journalist when I was a teenager. I am fond of photography. I started taking pictures and taught myself everything through reading books and watching workshops online. Through journalism and photography, I like to tell people about events. I am happy to be part of this workshop and celebrate the 50th anniversary of PNJ, to see different youth organisations and compare how they work with those we have in my home country. One of my biggest dreams is to interview actor Mickey Rourke.

 

My Name is Mika Nachtailer, from Jerusalem, Israel. Now I live in Tel Aviv. I am working as a producer and editor in the program section at the public radio station in Tel Aviv. The program section is focused on subjects which are not on the news. It’s to make people aware of them. We discuss very obvious subjects but in a non obvious way. I started working in the military station in July 2015 for my military service. I’m gonna finish in July 2017. I love my job.

My main task is the broadcasted university in which we choose and discuss subjects we find important. Such as feminism or the history of  the middle-east-conflict. We do a 50-minute show about medicine, technology, street art, housing programs and legal problems. In my freetime I like to do visual illustrations. I would love to work in that area. 

Hello, I’m Nikolai Machekin, from Minsk, Belarus. I work for a national youth newspaper called Znamya Junosti. I’ve been writing for the paper for five years now and took the post of deputy chief editor six months ago. Having grown up in the city of Mogilev, I got a degree in journalism from the local university. In Minsk, job competition turned out to be tougher than expected for me as a country boy. Sometimes I still consider it a miracle. I mostly write about art and music, with the Eurovision song contest being one of my favourite subjects. I’m a fond singer myself and I like to record Russian pop songs and publish them on social media. This is my second time in Germany, and like in Berlin two years ago, the German friendliness reminds me of my compatriots back home in Belarus. Unfortunately, I rarely get the opportunity to travel, so it’s wonderful to be here.

Hello I’m Rick Mertens from Luxemburg. A year ago, I started working as a freelance journalist at Luxemburg’s public radio (Radio 100.7), where I mostly produce news broadcasts. However, I’m also involved in the production of a youth programme called “Generator”. As an art history graduate, I might look like an unlikely journalist at first sight, but I have been attracted to journalism since high school and have not regretted it up to now. I particularly enjoy the diversity and the daily exchange with people from various strains of life. Busy with work, spare time is often scarce, which makes me enjoy reading and listing to music all the more on my free days.

 

Avigail Kosh. I am from Tel Aviv, Israel. I am just beginning my third year in the mandatory military service, as a producer / editor in Galey Tzahal radio station. Our radio station is unique – it belongs to ministry of defence, but if you ask a local  israeli, they would tell you it is not unusual. The station broadcasts many topics: news, music, entertainment, politics, etc. I am taking a part in a few programs that broadcast content such as early morning soft news, university lectures in the evening, music program, and more. The more I do, the more I want to be a journalist. It seems like an important duty nowadays and I understand how important it is to do it right.

 

Hi, my name is Maxi Pesch. I’m a journalist from Luxemburg. I have been working for the public radio station for the past year and a half, as a reporter. I studied media and journalism in Paris, and practical film making in London. As a reporter I mostly focus on the news, but also cover cultural subjects. I also have my own radio show named „Generator“ in which we discuss all subjects – politics, sports, economics and culture – all in a young adults oriented way.

What I love most in my job is that I get to learn every day and to meet interesting people. Every day is diverse. I also love the fact that I can try and change things for the best, even if just a little bit in every time. In November 2015 I was sent to cover Paris after the attack there. I spent seven days there interviewing people in the same place I used to live at. This experience really left a mark on me.

I am Raluca Besliu from Bukarest, Romania. I’m the fundraising manager for European Youth Press and currently based in Berlin, but I also lived and worked in the United States and Hungary. I’m also a freelance journalist and published in the Huffington Post, AlJazeera and CNN iReport among other publications. I’m very excited to be part of a wonderful and creative team.

Fotos: Kseniya Schasnaya