The Press Team is going to play a vital role at CologneMUN 2019.

The Press Team will be responsible for reporting on the events during the conference. Each member of the press team will be assigned a committee to report on; where they will take notes, record the events and discussions that takes place during each session, interview delegates and sometimes even leak information. The Press Team will put information into context and present it as they see fit with the goal to keep delegates and the UN accountable and transparent. This year there will be an exciting twist, as the Press Team will put information into context with the goal of representing their own news outlet! Each Press Team member will be allocated with a different international news outlet, therefore reporting on the events from their point of view, staying true to their “employer’s” agenda and to their version of the “truth”.

INTERVIEWS

Interviews are a great source to better understand a bloc or specific country positions in the committee. They are giving you direct quotes that you can use to critically examine the direction that the committee is taking. It’s important to remember that you are not there to simply present their position, but rather identify the facts and critically analyze the information that they give you. In an interview, you are in control of the conversation and the interviewee is there to answer your questions. Key ideas to remember: 

• Be polite. 
• Ask questions that are relevant to the topic and the interviewee. 
• Critically examine the information that they provide. 
• Pay attention to their tone and body language.
• Make them feel at ease. 
• Be aware that the answers might not be completely truthful. 

Interviews will predominantly take the form of News Interviews. News Interviews explain ideas, events or situations, which can give interpretation, background and further explanation to their audience. It can be used to emphasize aspects that you believe to be important to the committee. Ultimately, good interviews should be a good story, which gives insight into people or events. 

More Information: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/edit/MencherIntv1.html

NEWS STORIES 

News Stories focus on events or situations that will provide a context for the audience. This type of article is impartial, reports on the facts, and does not include any opinion. You need to frame the event or situation for your audience, but you must be an unbiased source of information. This article should be between 150 – 300 words.  This article is written in third person.  

COLUMN 

Columns are articles of opinion. These articles are there to inform and entertain their audience. It is used to express the columnists’ opinion, but must be grounded in research – facts, quotations, data, etc. Columns have a clear topic and there is usually an overarching theme. This is approximately 300 words in length. This piece can be written in third person or first person.   

More Information: https://journalistsresource.org/tip-sheets/writing/how-to-write-an-op-ed-or-column

OP-ED 

Opinion pieces or Editorials are informed opinion pieces. This is where you can present your opinion on a topic area, idea or situation (such as committee sessions in general). You can start by presenting your opinion and then developing it with facts around that opinion or argument. It should be no longer than 800 – 1000 words. Most often, these pieces are not humorous and rather are an argument on the subject matter. This article can be written in third or first person. 

More Information: http://www.ipsnews.net/publications/writingformediaopinionandcommentarypieces.pdf