Supply of young readers at Pannon Lapok Társasága
(Media educational project)
Why is reading education essential?

1. Few entrants, young readers- reading public is getting older. The number and ratio of 60+ of age is permanently increasing as opposed to under-20s of age all over the country.
2. Social responsibility

Séta project

Séta, Sajtó és tanulás (Walking, Press and learning) project was launched as an experimental programme in autumn 2003 on the basis of the German Zeus project in order to introduce newspapers as device of education in the public education sector as well as to widen students' reading habits. In 2004 autumn Inform Media Publishing Company started Séta project also in three counties (Borsod- Abaúj-Zemplén; Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg) in the east Hungarian region. In 2005 October county newspapers of Axel Springer Publishing Company joined Séta project so the programme was expanded to national level.


Operating for six years, the programme has been widely accepted in the public education sector, educational institutes have been using newspapers in the best way not only in our counties but also all over the country. Due to national co-operation (Séta- HÍD) and recent reforms opportunities advancing this programme are opening now and also in the future.

Aims of Séta project:

 

• Written press has not been involved in media education at secondary schools. Séta program is due to fill this gap.
• Newspapers as means of education should appear in the public education sector.
• Widening students' reading habits
• Enhancing the withering results of reading comprehension in PISA-test:

Séta contributes to spreading and increasing reading and written literacy of teenagers.
 

• Educating regular newspaper readers: reading a newspaper should become a daily habit of secondary school students, readers of written press should not become victims of the spread and dangers of electronic media.
• Forming critical point of view: during the programme students can learn critical way of thinking in the times of information overflow; they can learn the habits of newspaper reading. Moreover, with the help of the project we can contribute to educate enlightened citizens who can become active participants in a democratic society.

Field of operation in Séta project

Secondary schools- grammar and technical ones- found in the territory of operation of Pannon Lapok Társasága are involved in the project.

Schedule of the programme
SéTA

Within the frames of the programme participating students and teachers receive the local newspaper for seven weeks via their distribution network. We offer students theoretical and practical knowledge with the involvement of editorial offices. Chief editors and local editors visit the involved schools several times and make students familiar with the basics of journalism. Students get the opportunity to visit the editorial offices and they can have a deeper look at the processes of Veszprém printing works.

Sétatér( ambulatory) - "meeting" place for students

During the period of the project students are given the opportunity to publish: editorial offices of our newspapers (Dunaújvárosi Hírlap, Fejér Megyei Hírlap, Napló, Vas Népe, Zalai Hírlap) edit the page called Sétatér from the self-writings of the students learning in their territory of distribution. Recently not only students look forward to reading their own or their fellows' work appearing in written form in a fever of excitement but also our readers like these colourful pages. At the end of the programme Sétatér supplement- containing the self-written contributions of students- is issued as a common supplement of the five daily newspapers with a circulation of nearly 200,000 copies.

Strength of Séta programme

 

• Newspaper and reader are in close contact (newspaper of the family)
• Familiar, easier to reach
• Journalists are involved in education
• Students are involved in newspaper production (Séta pages/supplement)
• Visit to the printing shop, Séta-camp

Youngsters like Séta programme for the following reasons:
 

• They are proud of the fact that they read a newspaper of adults,
• Interactive, they can participate in creative lessons,
• Up-to-date topics that they are interested in.

Educators consider the project useful as:
 

• Minimise the gap between the "abstract" world of school and reality,
• Develops reading and speaking skills, critical way of thinking,
• Helps youngsters becoming responsible and open-minded citizens.

Data of PLT results
 

• In the distribution area a total of 65 schools joined Séta programme for at least one semester- it means more than 70 per cent of education institutions in our counties.
• We have introduced 50,000 young readers- among them 14,000 active participants- into the world of written press since 2003.
• In the spring semester of Séta programme nearly 1,700 students of 55 schools "walked" with us, which means the highest number of participants ever in the life of the programme.

Students have always liked having the opportunity of visiting the printing shop and editorial offices, which means that we can create a more informal contact with them.

 

• On 2 May 2009 we issued our supplement with the title of Sétatér, a popular part of all of our five daily newspapers in 200,000 copies with the involvement of advertisers.
• 2009 spring semester of Séta programme was supported by Pannon University of Veszprém.
• Participating schools really like dealing with the programme within the frames of school lessons; this figure is 75 per cent.

Séta-camp

 

• One of the crucial elements of post-education is the camp launched by students where participants can have a look at the whole world of media.
• Deepening the fruitful connection with teachers, further professional trainings, prizes.
• We organise meetings for students with representatives of the media, lectures on printed press, on the history of the press and on other segments of the media.
• In recent years our programme has been visited by Nóra Szily, András Bárdos, Krisztina Máté , Ferenc Pallagi, Miklós Győrffy, András Siklós, Csaba M. Kiss, Katalin Kondor, Péter Doszpot, Sándor Búza, Dávid Kruzslicz, Éva Fejős, Géza Balázs, Ferenc Orbán and Zoltán Horváth.
• Besides lectures leisure time activities, such as competitions, excursions, concerts and dance events can also be found in the wide range of programmes
• We have already organised four successful camps within the frame of the project.

Picture gallery