Does your child want to be a journalist?

BarcelonaSeven years ago, a group of young people from all over Catalonia met for the first time at the Esplai Center of Fundesplai to participate in the first Journalism Campus of the newspaper ARA and Fundesplai, a group of social camps that combine journalism workshops with recreational and sports activities. Now, some of these young people are about to graduate from journalism studies and, in many cases, have been collaborating with media outlets for years.

This summer, a new group of young people aged eleven to sixteen will have the opportunity to discover the secrets of journalism with professionals from the newspaper ARA, with the participation of Antoni Bassas, among others. The seventh edition of the ARA and Fundesplai Journalism Campus will be held in El Prat de Llobregat from July 7 to 12. Registration is now open.

The Journalism Campus takes place at Fundesplai's Esplai Center, a youth hostel in El Prat de Llobregat. It has classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium, a cafeteria and restaurant, a swimming pool, and a large garden integrated into the surrounding area. After the morning journalism workshops, Campus attendees—who spend the night at the center—participate in recreational and sports activities organized by Fundesplai instructors: kayaking, sailing, surfing, and cycling in the Llobregat Delta, among others.

The objective of the Campus is to teach the basics of journalism and how information is produced in its different formats, in order to understand the importance of having quality media that educate and inform, and of being critical-minded citizens. To ensure everyone has the opportunity to attend, families can apply to Fundesplai for a scholarship to cover part or all of the Campus fee.

Participants will learn how to create a cover story, host a podcast, write a photo report, or conduct a professional interview. They will also be able to visit the ARA newspaper editorial office and the TV3 studios, where they will meet and chat with professionals from the company.

The summer camps, which combine journalism workshops with recreational and sports activities, were the first of their kind in Catalonia and, after seven years, have established themselves as one of the most solid educational initiatives.