From vigorous communication to high quality thinking

Every year since 1995 the program brings together the best young people from all over Ukraine, who, so to say, passed the test for erudition and professionalism (selection takes place in several stages and includes validation of both professional knowledge, especially, jurisprudence and legislation framework, and general level of personal development).

During the school year senior students have training in the Committees of the Parliament and central bodies of the executive power working, particularly, on law drafts and at the same time have chance to communicate with figures involved in forming the modern history of independent Ukraine. This is a great experience. In fact, the founders of the program and all of those who work on it want to bring up a generation that would offer changes to the Ukrainian political life. This task is quite ambitious, on the one hand, but, on the other, it is relevant more than ever. In more than 15 years of the program’s existence over 1,000 students have taken part in it. Some of them have already shown their worth. In May 2009 the Association of the Alumni of the Verkhovna Rada and Central Executive Bodies Internship Program NGO “Interns League” was founded. This organization works on the development of the Program, facilitating cooperation among its alumni, and is searching for funding. Starting from summer 2011 all the administration of the Program was transferred to the “Interns League.”

Originally this project came from the initiative of the Association of Former US Congress and Ukrainian Parliament Members and from 2000 it was managed by the Indiana University and Ohio State University with the assistance of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

This year the focus of the discussion between The Day’s editor-in-chief and interns is journalism and information space.

“Ukrainian information space is in a terrible state because a notion of ‘national information space’ does not exist at the legislative level,” said Larysa Ivshyna answering the question of Nazar Shparyk from Lviv on the possibility to influence information policy of TV channels. “It can be regulated by a number of subordinate acts but this does not solve the problem of, let’s say, social responsibility of the mass media owners to the community.”

Even though most of those present at the meeting do not plan to go into journalism, improvement of state legislative base is their direct task.

Young people were also interested to hear about The Day’s chief editor’s opinion on such notions as “freedom of speech” and “censorship,” they asked about what should form professionalism of Ukrainian journalists, for what type of information there is a demand in Ukrainian society, how to develop the habit for intellectual reading in Ukrainians, and what changes should happen in the country so that finally there would be a breakthrough of ideas. In fact, discussion about journalism developed into a conversation about the country through the prism of national information space.

Larysa Ivshyna urged everyone “to stimulate the awareness of country’s life, not to look indifferently, listen hard, and try to use one’s time to the fullest.”

Look for more detailed information about the discussion of The Day’s editor-in-chief and the participants of the Verkhovna Rada and Central Executive Bodies Internship Program in the upcoming issues of The Day.