Event Reports
On the first conference day Christian Spahr, Head of the Media Program South East Europe, discussed current challenges of journalism education together with Michael Geffken, Managing Director of the Leipzig School of Media, and the Bulgarian political scientist Ivo Indzhov from Veliko Tarnovo University. Main focus of the panel discussion was the training of journalists in the digital age. The panel was moderated by the President of the German Federation of Journalists (DJV) in the federal state of Saxony, Ine Dippmann.
Spahr spoke about the media crisis in South East Europe. As an example for negative tendencies he cited the current press freedom ranking of the NGO "Reporters Without Borders" (RSF). It shows that the countries of South East Europe range from position 46 to 111 of 180 countries worldwide. Spahr mentioned the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few media moguls and an insufficient media regulation as main reasons for these results. He also showed deficits of the journalism training in South East Europe, citing a KAS survey among journalism students. These deficits are, amongst others, connected with insufficient practical training and lack of technical equipment at the universities.
Christian Spahr commented on potential reforms of the curricula: "Mobile journalism through the smartphone is a trend. Therefore universities and journalism schools need to focus on flexible learning to keep the pace with technology." He underlined the need for further discussion on the social responsibility of journalists in the democracy. In his view the next generation of journalists needs better technical and ethical preparation. Moreover, the Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe stressed that entrepreneurial thinking must be a part of the journalism training, because more and more young professionals start their career as freelancers. "They should learn how to write attractively for the internet, but also how to develop business models and establish cooperation with other media. They also need basic knowledge in coding and web design," Spahr said.
After the discussion the panellists debated further aspects of journalism education with the audience. Under the leading theme "All things new? European culture and its media" decision makers from politics, media and economy met at MTM 2017 to share experiences and exchange views.