An Assembly refers to a group of people that come together for a common purpose. This is the objective of the Freelance Journalism Assembly, to serve as a meeting point where freelancers will gather and work together to strengthen the resilience of the freelance journalism community in Europe.

The Assembly is a free-of-charge programme designed to connect and empower freelance journalists in Europe. At the Assembly, freelance journalists will acquire skills and build connections to face their professional and personal challenges through online training sessions and mentorship, networking opportunities and a major face-to-face event to be held in 2021.

The Freelance Journalism Assembly is organised by the European Journalism Centre (EJC) with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Why?

The number of freelance journalists across Europe has been growing over the past years. More and more professionals are going freelance - partly of their own choice, partly due to the newsrooms’ reorganisation processes. This transition creates increasing professional and personal challenges for freelancers, mostly related to economic sustainability, the need to work in an international environment, and the capacity for building new connections.

The COVID-19 outbreak has only heightened these challenges, bringing with it a sudden loss of income, new obstacles to travel and reporting and an unknown professional and personal environment. In this time of uncertainty, freelance journalists need a support network more than ever. This is why the Assembly was created, to provide the space and the support the community needs.

Who?

The Assembly is designed for all the freelance journalists based in one of the member states of the Council of Europe.

How?

Once you sign up and become a member, you can enrol for free into the different tracks and activities and access all the training resources.

The programme includes four tracks and three steps per track: online training sessions, online mentorship and virtual unconferences. All the online activities are free of charge and will take place between June and October 2020. After this first stage, the community will gather in-person in 2021.

You are welcome to join as many tracks and steps as you like. As a member, you can sign-up for the activities in line with your interests, needs and time available. The calls to participate in these sessions and events will open progressively.