Press

The Summit generated media interest well beyond the conference rooms, and the Alliance maintained a set of channels for journalists, partners and delegates to follow and cover its work. This press page gathers the Summit’s headline outcomes, the coverage that surrounded it and the ways to reach the team behind it.

Media centre

The press function for the Summit was handled by the conference organisers, who coordinated media accreditation, interview requests and access to the Summit programme. Journalists looking for background on the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, the 2014 Summit or its delegates were directed to the organisers, who could also arrange introductions to national delegation leaders and to speakers.

The 2014 Communique

The clearest news to come out of the week was the signing of the 2014 G20 YEA Communique. Delegates from nineteen countries and the European Union put their names to the document, which called on G20 leaders, finance ministers and central bank governors to focus on entrepreneurship and to implement policies, legislation and incentives for ecosystems that support start-ups and sustainable high-growth small and medium enterprises.

The Summit also produced a global action plan on youth employment, agreed by the stakeholders present, with the aim of helping to reduce global youth unemployment below ten per cent by 2030. Both documents were made available to the public after the Summit.

Coverage of the Summit

Coverage of the Alliance’s work stretched across broadcast, print, online and social media. Around the leadership assembly held in Riyadh ahead of the Summit, media reports were carried by major television and news organisations, with interview and clip coverage of the Alliance’s representatives and the preparatory meetings. The table below lists the channels and formats that carried Alliance news in that period.

The Riyadh leadership meeting

One of the most widely reported moments in the Alliance’s calendar came at its leadership assembly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, held in preparation for the Summit. Media in the region covered the arrival of the Alliance’s delegation and its meetings with senior figures, and the assembly was reported through television news, press items and social channels. The coverage illustrated how a network of twenty economies can draw attention to youth entrepreneurship through its national members and their relationships with government and media.

Social channels

Much of the Summit’s day-to-day storytelling happened on social media. The Alliance maintained an active presence on Twitter under the G20_YEA account, alongside Facebook and other platforms, and used those channels to share programme updates, delegate stories and the outcomes of the week. For those following remotely, the social feeds were the fastest way to see what was happening in Sydney.

Resources for journalists

The press team maintained a set of resources for journalists and partners covering the Summit. These included the Summit programme, background on the Alliance and its member organisations, the list of confirmed speakers and the documents produced at the end of the week. Writers looking for detail were encouraged to work from the primary documents rather than second-hand summaries.

The main sources available to media were:

• The 2014 G20 YEA Communique, signed by delegates in Sydney
• The global action plan on youth employment agreed at the Summit
• Speaker biographies and programme highlights published on the Summit site
• The Alliance’s social channels for time-stamped updates from Sydney

Because the Summit ran alongside the wider G20 calendar, the organisers also helped journalists place the event in context, explaining how the Alliance’s recommendations fed into the B20 and G20 processes that followed.

Media enquiries

Press enquiries about the Summit, the Alliance or its members were handled through the conference organisers. Organisations and journalists seeking comment, imagery or interviews were asked to make contact early so that requests could be matched with the relevant delegation or speaker. Full contact details, including the organisers’ address, telephone numbers and email, are listed on the Contact Us page. Delegates and partners looking for copies of the communique, the action plan or other Summit resources could also request them from the same team, and the Alliance continued to publish news and updates through its own channels after the Summit closed.