The students of the School of Advanced Journalism had a discussion about the challenges of writing articles about population at the office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Moldova on Wednesday. The visit to the UNFPA office was a logical step after the conclusion of the SAJ course on Journalism about Population last week.

The course on Journalism about Population was first taught at SAJ this school year; therefore, Ian McFarlane, the UNFPA Representative in the Republic of Moldova, wanted to hear from the students about the major challenges in writing articles about population  and what parts of the course needed improvement. In addition, they were asked to assess each topic and share which one was the most difficult for them.

According to most students, the most challenging was the assignment to write an article involving the interpretation of statistical data. The only student who mentioned a different assignment was Irina Gusan – she said that writing about births was the most difficult. ‘In class, we were lucky to have a very versatile trainer, who spoke in detail about contraception, birth, abortion, made it easy to learn theory. Writing articles on the topic was more challenging... As the topic is a sensitive one, it was quite difficult to identify sources that would agree to speak openly about it,’ said Irina Gusan.

Throughout the course, the students had the chance to interact with several experts in various matters related to population. They met Olga Gagauz, the Director of the Center for Demographic Research, Boris Galca, the Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family, Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, the Chair of the NGO Gender-Centru, and Rodica Comendant, the Director of the Reporcutive Health Training Center.

All speakers shared valuable expertise. Each came with their unique expertise, which made it easier for the students to learn about various topics discussed during the course. The course has also sparked the interest of other demographers, who have expressed willingness to contribute to it. We agreed with them to cooperate during the next academic year,’ said Vitalie Dogaru, the trainer of the course on Journalism about Population. He also noted that all the knowledge gained during the course would come in handy in the second half of the school year, during the course on Social Journalism.

The course was developed by the Center for Independent Journalism, with the support of the office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Moldova; it does not necessarily represent the views of the UNFPA, the United Nations or any affiliated organizations.