January 20 2022
https://www.media4change.co/future-story/mediathon-postponed-due-to-the-omicron-variant?page&future-story=mediathon-postponed-due-to-the-omicron-variant&post_type=future-story&name=mediathon-postponed-due-to-the-omicron-variant
Mediathon postponed due to the Omicron variant

In light of the Omicron COVID-19 variant outbreak in Lithuania and in the region, the Mediathon, an international training for the journalists, is postponed to the end of March. The organizers’ main concern is to guarantee the health of all participants and ensure a high level of attendance of journalists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Latvia.

Mediathon postponed due to the Omicron variant

In light of the Omicron COVID-19 variant outbreak in Lithuania and in the region, the Mediathon, an international training for the journalists, is postponed to the end of March. The organizers’ main concern is to guarantee the health of all participants and ensure a high level of attendance of journalists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Latvia.

The Mediathon which was planned to take place in Lithuania from 2nd  to 6th  February now is scheduled for March 30th – April 3rd. 

The decision to postpone the training has been taken to minimize costs and risks for all involved, in the wake of the surging COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

“Mediathon is an opportunity to celebrate investigative journalism, improve data analysis skills, and expand the professional network, thus it is important to have a safe environment where journalists can communicate and share their knowledge. We are eager to bring back the pre-pandemic training experience, and it is safer to do after the COVID-19 situation stabilizes,” said Neringa Jurciukonyte, the CEO of Media4Change.

The training organizers invite all selected participants to continue their engagement with this event and will work towards ensuring the same program with an even greater level of participation in spring.

Mediathon is also a chance to learn from the outstanding investigative journalism examples: all participants will attend the Future Stories Award ceremony on March 31st. The investigative journalism awards will recognize, in several categories, the best investigations from Lithuania and Slovakia.

Before the awards, Media4Change and Europsky Dialog are inviting the audience to select the “Audience Award Winner”. All investigations are presented online and waiting can vote here.