The Barents Mediasphere –project has published a
Barents Media Guide, which serves both the journalists from inside and outside of
the Barents region and the other public having interest in the theme.

The web guide includes the basic information about the media in the whole
Barents Region presented in a form of a map. It also gives practical information
essential for the work of journalists about the region and how to act there. At the
website there are also video stories addressing the journalistic work on the Barents
region and the cooperation networks of the regional media.

The
Kolarctic ENPI-funded Barents Mediasphere  project run the years 2012-2014.
It aimed at the enhancing of the cross-border information. The lead partner was the
Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland and other partners BarentsObserver and
GTRK Murman. The Media Guide compiles the information and experiences produced by
the project.

One part of the project was a survey directed to the
journalists in the Barents region. The analysis of its results can be read at the
website of the BarentsObserver online magazine.

”The survey
clearly told, that the journalists in the Barents region have much interest to write
stories about their neighboring countries and the life there. Many practical reasons
such as the lack of time, tight finances and the focusing of the editors to the
domestic region only, however cause that the cross-border reporting is very scarce”,
says the Head of Science Communications at the Arctic Centre, Markku Heikkilä, who
was the project director.

”The Barents Media Guide is meant to
help cross-border working, to give basic information and to bring out, that the
journalists working in the region have much in common”, says Heikkilä. The proper
publication event of the Media Guide will take place in the journalist network
Barents Press International’s annual meeting, which is held in Oulu at 21st
March.

Additional information:

Head of Science Communications Markku Heikkilä, Arctic Centre, University
of Lapland
markku.heikkila@ulapland.fi
+358 40
4844300