Discussing with 22 Freelance Journalists from Finland

What it means to be a journalist in the Republic of Moldova? What are the key problems faced by media specialists and how do they manage to fight against populism, propaganda, manipulation, and other unfathomable phenomena? What is the Moldovans’ degree of trust in media institutions? Where can you follow qualitative journalistic studies? There are just a few of the questions that 22 freelance journalists from Finland addressed to the CSAJ team at a meeting held on April 10 at the Moldova Tourist Information Center.

In a study visit to our country, Finnish journalists, mostly specialized in audiovisual, political and economic journalism, documentary film production, and others, were curious to find out what the Chisinau School of Advanced Journalism (CSAJ) does in the fields of education and training in journalism.

I made a presentation on CSAJ activities, projects and partnerships, about the courses and the school’s revised curriculum, which the guests appreciated and qualified as updated to the new trends, but also about the achievements of our graduates.

The students interacted with the freelancers, shared their career impressions and dreams, but they also found out what obstacles young journalists face in “the land of a thousand lakes”. The discussions were focused on brain drain, systemic corruption, fight against false news, intimidation of journalists, promotion of independent press, and so on.

This event was a possibility to interact with experienced European journalists and learn from their experience.