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BECID Team’s Achievements: September 2024 in Review

Here you will find a comprehensive review of the BECID team’s achievements in September 2024. This overview includes events organized and attended by the team. You will also find our team members’ latest publications and media coverage.

BECID organises  

  • MEDIATHON 2024 was an inspiring two-week event held from September 13 to 29 in Daugavpils, designed for young creative minds eager to explore the world of multimedia, develop skills in technology, art, communication, and content creation. Organized by the Baltic Center for Media Excellence (BCME), Rus.Delfi.lv, and the Cultural Institute New East, this intensive program was a dynamic space for learning, innovation, and empowerment.
Read more about MEDIATHON

The core of MEDIATHON was focused on critical thinking, countering disinformation and reducing stereotypes in minority communities. The program’s combination of a media campaign hackathon and expert-led workshops provided invaluable hands-on experience in crafting impactful, meaningful messages, fostering critical thinking, and developing professional skills.

The Journey

  • September 13: MEDIATHON kicked off with a project launch, as participants were introduced to the event and engaged in expert workshops covering the creation of communication content. On first day the initial campaign ideas were created, with participants brainstorming creative ways to convey their messages.
  • September 14: The participants developed comprehensive work plans for their campaigns, laying the groundwork for the intensive two weeks ahead. These plans would serve as the blueprint for turning their ideas into reality.
  • September 15-28: Participants worked on their projects, supported by expert mentors who provided guidance on refining ideas, building content, and ensuring effective communication strategies.
  • September 29: Participants present their completed campaigns. They shared not only the finished content but also the behind-the-scenes journey of creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.

Expert Guidance

MEDIATHON 2024 was bolstered by the expertise of media and communication professionals:

  • Zane Gargažina, Director of Latvian Television, provided insights into content creation formats and effective presentation techniques.
  • Anatolijs Golobevs, Editor-in-Chief of Rus.Delfi.lv, shared his knowledge on content creation principles and audience behavior, helping participants understand how to engage and resonate with their target audiences.
  • Agnese Ēķe-Cēsniece, BCME Project Manager and former manager of major marketing and communication projects at Latvian Television, led discussions on how to plan and execute communication campaigns.

Looking Ahead

The creativity and hard work of the participants won’t stop here. In October, the three best campaigns from MEDIATHON 2024 will be featured on the news portal Rus.Delfi.lv, giving participants the opportunity to see their ideas make a real impact in the media landscape.

MEDIATHON 2024 was more than just an event—it was a stepping stone for young creatives to grow, challenge themselves, and gain invaluable skills that will shape their future careers in the media and beyond. With a focus on empowering youth to make meaningful contributions through multimedia, the event demonstrated the power of creativity and critical thinking in fostering positive change in society.

  • BECID and Estonian children magazine Täheke are organizing a comic competition “How to be good on the internet?” All kids aged 5-10 years are welcome to participate and submit their work. The competition is coordinated by Annaliisa Post (UTARTU). 

Publications and media 

  • Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences produced and published a TV programme on disinformation and fact-checking. The programme is currently in Latvian, but they plan to add English subtitles soon. Guests of the programme are professor Jānis Buholcs, leading researcher at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, and Evita Puriņa, editor of Re:Baltica’s “Re:Check” section. 

  • Maria Murumaa-Mengel (UTARTU) gave an interview about children and social media to Raadio 2. 
  • Maria Murumaa-Mengel (UTARTU) talked about elders and digital divide at TV show “Siin me oleme”. 
  • Maria Murumaa-Mengel and Gretel Juhansoo (UTARTU) talked about Nikocado Avocado at “Laser Tech”. 
  • Maia Klaassen (UTARTU) talked to Vikerraadio about keeping a critical mind on social media. 

BECID is represented 

  • On September 2-3, BECID junior researcher Rimgailė Kasparaitė (VMU) took part in the “Democracy & Digital Citizenship” conference at the University of Southern Denmark, where she presented her dissertation’s conceptualization and theoretical analysis of the sources, which has served as a basis for further empirical research, and also represented the DIGIRES and BECID projects as a successful example of cooperation between different stakeholders in the Baltics, as well as discussed the possibilities of future collaborations with researchers at other European Universities. Read more. 
  • On September 17-20, Maia Klaassen (UTARTU) represented BECID at Advanced Digital State and Cyber Defense Courses. 
  • On September 24-27, Jānis Buholcs (“Establishing the ‘truth’: The epistemologies of fact-checkers in Latvia and Estonia”; ViA) and Maria Murumaa-Mengel (“Feeling the “influencer creep”: How different professions embed influencers’ practices to their work”; UTARTU) represented BECID at the 10th ECREA European communication conference. 
  • On September 27, Vidzemes Augstskola offered visitors to play a game about disinformation at the European Researchers’ Night at ViA. 

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