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What it means to be a journalist in Slovakia
by Elena Jančušková (24)
My country is not too old. So its world of mass media is not too old, neither. As a post-socialist country, we still do have some problems with expressing our opinions. Ordinary people have fear from cameras, from microphones, they are not used to be asked on their own opinions or to be showed in television. So they are not very helpful for journalists, who need to do their job and need for example to do a simple inquiry on the street. So to be a journalist in Slovakia is not such a happiness... But on the other hand, to get a job as a journalist, it is not so difficult – in an ironic sense: You do not have to be a very good professional to write for newspaper. The competition is not very big. Many journalists working in newspapers, radio or television have no journalistic education. Media give work to teachers, historians or engineers or even people without university education. Why do I study journalism then? What is the study of journalism worth? This is very serious question in our country and I am asking it myself. I do not have a fear that I do not find a job, but I think it is not fair. I think the study of journalism can educate a very good journalist or media-scientist, who knows all about the phenomenon of the word „medium“. Such scientists are always missing in Slovakia...
There is a difference between elderly and young journalists. Elderly generation is generally more sceptic, that´s why even elderly redactors and reporters see the world in grey colours. On the other side there are many of young journalists with beautiful smiles, professional acting and high self-confidence. It is positive sign. I appreciate that there are many young and nice faces of mouths of many organisations. They are clever and intelligent and it is nice to see that not all of creative young people ale leaving their home country. This all is nice, but why do elderly faces disappear from slovak TV-screens? This is a sign of slovak journalism, too. There are only young, good-looking people on TV-news. Slovak public opinion is too much influenced by consum society. We need more time to understand that even 50-year-old reporter can be „ok“ and nobody will get a heart-attack by watching at him. I think there are very good examples of TV-reporters and moderators in Great Britain or USA, who are even more credible than their younger colleagues, because they have many more experiences. Let´s say we understand the reason, why slovak televisions prefer young, thin and blonde women to speak in TV-news and to smile at cameras, but why happens this in radio stations, too? Can be the voice too „old“ to be nice for hearers? Everything has to be modern. It means mainly quick speech, young voices and topics interesting for young people. Why is it so important? Everything is faster and information are getting to hearers in much more intensity. One has a feeling he can not catch everything. It is information flood, information disaster. Slovak media are too young to understand that it is not the most important thing on the world, to win the fight about hearer, viewer and reader.
So the typical picture of slovak journalist means: in TV: young blond woman with or without journalistic education, in radio: young, too fast speaking man or woman with great sense of humor and in newspapers: all of the rest of journalists. Do we need to change it or not? I think there is much work...
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