How to launch and manage a newspaper, a radio station or a television channel? How to develop a business plan or a grant application? These are the topics that were discussed for seven days during the Media Management course. Students worked with Lucia Bacalu-Jardan, director of the regional newspaper “Expresul” in Ungheni; Adrian Petcu, head of newsroom at Radio Moldova; Dorin Scobioală, director of the “Cat Studio” media agency, “Reuters TV” and “Antena 3” correspondent in Moldova; and Ina Grejdeanu, Strategic Development Officer at the Independent Journalism Center.

After several practical courses, SAJ students took a break from deadlines and focused on business ideas. They met several media managers and talked with them about running a media business. Each of the four trainers spoke to young people about the media segment where they work. From Lucia Bacalu-Jardan, students learned how to manage a regional newspaper and how to attract readers. With Adrian Petcu they discussed the broadcast schedule, the order of events placement in a newscast, the budget and working program of a radio reporter.

The most exciting, from the students’ viewpoint, was the module dedicated to TV management. Dorin Scobioală explained how to calculate a broadcaster’s budget and how much money is approximately needed to launch a television channel. During this course SAJ students also learned how to manage a team of reporters, what the format of a show is, how much a minute of advertisement costs, and how the audience of a TV channel is measured.

The secrets of a successful media project, able to convince the donor, and the cycle of its implementation were discussed during the fourth module – Development of Media Projects. With a vast experience in project management, trainer Ina Grejdeanu explained to students the meaning of a request for funding, application form, goal and objective, beneficiaries, monitoring, evaluation, and impact. In a practical exercise students learned to calculate the budget needed to implement a media project.

SAJ students said that after the course of Media Management they understood how much work there is behind radio waves, a newspaper page or a TV channel. “I understood that to manage a media business, you need first to take into account the audience, and a well-written and justified project can help achieve your goals and objectives,” said Nicholae Galaju.