Enthusiastic, inspired and willing to make a career in journalism – this is how one could describe the students of the tenth graduating class of the School of Advanced Journalism, who visited several media outlets in Bucharest on June 22-24. The visit, organized at the end of school year, was aimed to let them see how the media and journalists work on the other bank of the Prut.

In the first evening, SAJ students met journalist Lina Vdovii, specialized in investigative journalism and reporting, winner of the Young Journalist Award of 2015. Originated in Moldova and graduate of a university in Iasi, Lina spoke to students about her experience as freelancer.

The next stop SAJ students made at the Romanian Television (TVR) company, where they were greeted by Angela Avram Giurgiu, author of shows for TVR Internațional channel. After a general presentation of the company – when and how TVR was launched, how many departments and employees it has, etc. – young people talked with Angela Avram about team work, which is indispensable in television.

At the Radio Romania company students met Dan Preda, director of Radio România Actualități station; Maria Toghina, member of the company’s Administrative Board; and Janina Migreanu, director for communication. They showed to students the main departments of Radio Romania – Radio România Actualități, Radio Archives, Golden Library of Sound Recordings, and Radio Theater.

With colleagues from RISE Project Romania, whom we met in a less formal situation, the SAJ has been collaborating for quite a long time – for three years now they have been helping to conduct the Data Journalism Workshop. This time, students spoke with journalist Daniel Bojin and director Sergiu Brega, who deals with the video-graphic component of RISE investigations.

The evening culminated with a visit to the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest, where students met professor Dumitru Bortun. Discussions lasted more than two hours, and SAJ students learned a lot of interesting and useful things about the School, about the opportunities it offers to young people from Moldova, about perspectives and … about journalism.

The last destination in Bucharest was the office of the “Adevărul” publication. Editor-in-chief Dan Marinescu and deputy editor-in-chief Ramona Ursu spoke with young journalists about the newspaper, about circulations, and about the situation of the media in Moldova and Romania.

The visit to Bucharest by students of the tenth graduating class of the School of Advanced Journalism has been possible due to a project of the National Communication Center, and NGO focused on communication and professional development of the media in Moldova.