The end of April brought the end of courses at the School of Advanced Journalism. After eight months of study – during which students learned to write news, reports, interviews, journalistic investigations, etc., – young journalists met with the managers of several Moldovan media outlets and discussed with them about employment offers, wages, and opportunities young journalists have on the Moldovan media market. The meetings were held within Career Days, which are organized at the SAJ annually.

This year the School’s disciples met with Dumitru Tira, owner of the “Realitatea” online media group, with Cristina Gutu, general director of TV 7 channel, and with Cristian Jardan, director of UNIMEDIA news portal. From these guests the students found out about the working schedule of a reporter, about the jobs they offer, and, certainly, about the salaries they can provide. The three guests said that the Moldovan media market needs professional journalists who would produce powerful materials and would abide by ethical principles and rules of professional conduct. “You should do your job so as not to be ashamed to look at yourselves in the mirror in the morning”, said Cristian Jardan, who is also a successful graduate of the School of Advanced Journalism, 2007-2008 graduating class.     

To see how news and journalistic materials are actually produced, students visited several media outlets. The first stop was at the office of PRO TV Chișinău television. Students had the opportunity to see the studios of such shows as “În PROfunzime” and “O seară perfectă”. There they also found out how film editors work and made a few pictures at the news anchor’s desk. Then, young people spoke with reporter and anchor Sorina Obreja. The journalist recommended to her future fellow professionals to love this job, to be passionate about what they do and ... to read a lot of fiction. “A good journalist must know grammar and write correctly in the Romanian language,” said Sorina Obreja.

Radio Free Europe in Chisinau was the next. Students saw the studios where shows are filmed and recorded, discussed with reporters, and met their trainers – Vasile Botnaru, Diana Railean, and Liliana Barbarosie.

Beginning on May 5, the students of the School of Advanced Journalism will work on their own, guided by a tutor chosen from among trainers, to produce their final projects. Their public presentation will be held on May 30 and 31.