JOURNALISTS, ROBOTS AND CAPITAL - WHO CONQUERES THE MEDIA?
"The media - guilty or not?" This topic gathered at a roundtable discussion at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" lecturers and students from journalism departments, heads of regional electronic media, leading broadcasting hosts, journalists from print media and news sites. The discussion is organized by the Committee for Scientific Practical Studies and Analyses of the Modern Media at the Union of Bulgarian Journalists and VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar".
The participants in the discussion were welcomed by Assoc. Prof. Eleonora Tankova, PhD - Dean of the Faculty of International Economics and Administration, who said that the event connected with the media was a logical continuation of the main topics discussed at the International Conference on Science and Business for Smart Future, which the faculty holds for two days.
The discussion was opened by Assoc. Prof. Georgi Kalaglarski, who analyzed the most significant positive and negative trends in the development of the modern media. Among them are the growing concentration of the media and the powerful conquering of the editorial offices of financial and information giants - the "new horsemen" of the deformations in the profession. In her analysis, Prof. Margarita Pesheva emphasized the dynamic penetration of modern technologies in the preparation and distribution of media products. She gave a series of data about the latest feature - the use of robots that consistently displace "living" journalism. As an apostrophe of this thesis, Prof. Iliana Pavlova's presentation was built up. It dealt with the inevitable and eternal presence of journalists in the information and publicistic programmes and publications. Prof. Stefan Serezliev sought the development of these theses through the implementation of integrated marketing communications, and Assoc. Prof. Ivo Stamboliyski recalled the prophecy of world literary classics for the parallel development of two civilizations - the human and that of the robots.
Journalists from electronic and print media, news agencies and websites developed and defended their theses. The journalists from BNT Dobrina Cheshmedzhieva and Emil Rozov analyzed concrete practices through which personal talent and discovery can not be replaced even by the most up-to-date technical achievements. The students also analyzed their own arguments for the development of the profession. In the afternoon, the roundtable discussion continued with a student's happening with the working title Become a TV Star for a Day. The students received specific advice and acquired skills for behaviour in front of a TV camera and in a radio station; they took advantage of the recommendations of Asya Stefanova, speech therapist at the Varna Radio.
The professional meetings of students and journalists will continue throughout the new academic year.