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The Russian invasion of Ukraine was at the heart of the 33rd Press and Media Week, which has just ended. In Saint-Memmie in the Marne, college students devoted a radio program to the conflict. In Bordeaux, it is a sadly famous press photo that served as support for this work of decryption. #TheyHaveTheSolution
Better understand the conflict in Ukraine, learn how to get information, check your sources. These were the challenges of this press week in schools. Near Reims, students from the Jean Moulin middle school in Saint-Memmie produced a special program on the establishment’s web radio. Fifteen minutes of information to provide answers to the many questions that their comrades have been asking themselves since the beginning of the war.
“Vladimir Putin is a nostalgic, that is to say, he prefers Russia before 1989”, explains to the microphone Gabriel very touched by what the Ukrainians are going through. “It affects me a lot because I see a lot of people dying. Sad people, in the street, who no longer have homes, because they are fleeing the war”, says the teenager. The six 4th grade students behind this program are part of the college’s web radio club. For four weeks, they learned about the history of Ukraine and the past events that led to this war. A work carried out with the help of the college librarian. “I found them accessible websites. I guided them to prepare the questions. They did a lot of work because it was really not easy”, explains Mathilde Dublineau.
In Bordeaux, at the Gustave Eiffel high school, it is a tragic and extremely publicized photo that has been analyzed by students. This is the seriously injured pregnant woman after the bombing of the Mariupol maternity ward. This shot where we see the young Ukrainian lying on a stretcher has been around the world. A few days later, the Associated Press news agency announced her death and that of her baby. This photo was, for these high school students, the opportunity to work on the verification of the information that circulated on this attack.
“The Russians wanted to make believe that there were no children, no pregnant women in this maternity ward”, explains Nolan Paquet, second-year student. Specifically, Russia accused Ukraine of staging. And to justify this allegation, Moscow claimed that the Ukrainian influencer Marianna Podgourskaïa, photographed on the spot, was playing a role and was not pregnant. Except that the young woman has indeed given birth to a little girl.