FJMC is an official partner of the Seventh World Conference on Media and Mass Communication
The Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication is an official partner of the Seventh World Conference on Media and Mass Communication (MEDCOM) to be held online on 5-7 May 2022. The theme of the conference is "Media and Communication Practices in a Post-Conflict World. Issues, Opportunities and Prospects". Full conference information can be found on the website https://mediaconference.co/
International scientific conferences, organized by FJMC
The conference was held online via the Microsoft Teams videoconferencing platform due to the complication of the epidemiological situation in Bulgaria. The event was supported by the FNI at SU.
The plenary panel was addressed by Prof. Dr. Vesselina Valkanova, Dean of the Faculty, Ms. Karina Angelieva, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, and Prof. Dr. M. K. Nico Drok, President of the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA).
The panel was also attended by Mr. Giulio Pecora, a journalist with 35 years of experience in the Italian news agency ANSA, founder of the ANSA med consortium, which includes 23 news agencies from different European and Arab countries, Ms. Nadia Vissers, Director of EJTA in Belgium, Ms. Natya Kaladze, Director of the School of Social Sciences at the Georgian Private University, Mr. Bijay Singh, Member of the National Executive Council of the Indian Journalists' Union, Assoc. Diana Kulchitskaya from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, as well as lecturers and researchers from Bulgarian universities.
The 95 conference participants presented their papers in 9 panels over two days.
Lecturers and researchers from 11 Bulgarian universities, as well as journalists from the Bulgarian National Television discussed a number of issues with their colleagues from foreign universities and training organizations such as the School of Audiovisual Translation in Moscow, Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of International Relations, Moscow State University, Georgian Private University, European Association for Journalism Training. As a result of the international conference, the collection "Qualitative Journalism and New Communication Environment" was published, containing the impressive 48 papers of the participants of the event. The proceedings will be published in September 2021.
The event was again held online - via the Microsoft Teams videoconferencing platform - due to the deteriorating situation with COBID-19 in Bulgaria. Media and communication professionals, as well as individuals who are engaged in the issues of media and communication environment and culture in their various dimensions and manifestations, are invited to participate.
The scientific conference is divided into a plenary session and nine panels, with presentations in four of the panels entirely in English.
A total of 86 researchers and practicing journalists participated in the conference. Among them were 21 foreign researchers representing 16 universities from 13 countries.
Participants of the conference are invited to publish their research in the proceedings of the international forum.
Cooperation of FJMC with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation - Media Office for South East Europe
ADENAUER LECTURE. In the summer semester of the academic year 2020/2021, Dr. Christofer Nehring was selected as the guest lecturer of the FJMK and presented the syllabi of two courses - "Media and Secret Services" and "Disinformation and Media" - to the attention of the scientific community.
The SECOND LECTURE OF THE ADENAUER LECTURE was given on 16 November at 10 am in the Magna Aula of the FJMC with a direct online streaming by Peter Fry, Editor-in-Chief of ZDF. The Southeastern Europe Foundation's Media Program awards scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students.
Programmes under the Memorandum of Cooperation with UNICEF and AEJ
Under the joint programmes of the FJMC and the tripartite Memorandum of Cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), the initiatives of the FJMC as an educational institution in the field of communication and journalism to assist in the aspect of ethical media coverage of issues for children and adolescents continue. The collaboration also continues in the direction of creating and strengthening students' skills in media literacy. The MoU covers the duration of the UNICEF programme in the country till 2022.
Partnership between FJMC and Goethe Institute - Bulgaria
FJMC and Goethe Institute are partner organisations and the MEDIA INCUBATOR Forum is one of the first manifestations of this very beneficial cooperation. On 20 July a meeting took place between the Dean of FJMC Prof. Dr. Veselina Valkanova and Ms. Marina Ludemann, Director of Goethe-Institut - Bulgaria. A number of opportunities for joint initiatives in the field of social journalism and training of young journalists and students were identified.
Cooperation with foreign universities
Important for student mobility are the programmes of partner educational institutions of high standing, such as Lomonosov Moscow State University, which offers an intensive programme in English for international students every spring. Bilateral cooperation agreements have been signed with the Eurasian National University "Gumilyov" https://www.enu.kz/ru/ in Kazakhstan and with the University of Science and Technology of Malaysia, one of the country's topranking universities https://www.um.edu.my/index. An agreement to expand cooperation has been signed with ISIT Paris https://www.isitinternationaLcom/ in France.
Cooperation with European professional organisations
The cooperation with the EUROPEAN ORGANISATIONS EJTA AND ECREA continues its development. ECREA membership provides the College with up-to-date information on relevant academic forums, conferences and research.
FJMC's membership of the EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS TRAINING ASSOCIATION (EJTA) has provided the opportunity to participate in Eufactcheck, an initiative that aims to prevent misinformation regarding European policies and issues. EUfactcheck is a voluntary educational project. The project is extremely popular among members of the European Association for the Training of Journalists. During the period of FJMC's involvement in the project (the summer semester of the academic year 2020/2021), 19 other journalism education institutions from 13 European countries requested to participate, realising the value of the fact-checking module and incorporating it into their curricula. This gives our Journalism and Communication Management students a great opportunity for international exposure by publishing on the pan-European platform www.eufactcheck.eu.
FJMC's membership of EJTA contributes to raising the standards of the educational process and introducing innovative practices. The Pandemic has determined the on-line format for the MASSCOM WORLD CONFERENCE on 30 and 31 October 2020.
The Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication and the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GBITC) have a partnership agreement to deepen cooperation and mutual assistance in accordance with point III of the Cooperation Agreement between GBITC and Sofia University "St. According to the Agreement, GBITC provides, publicizes and conducts internships of students and postgraduates in the field of media, publishing, public communication and communication management. As a result of this collaboration, a series of open lectures was organized under the title "CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS - VOICES FROM PRACTICE. The FIRST LECTURE OF THE CYCLE took place on 4 November at 13:00 at the Zoom platform and was delivered by Mr. Ivan Chernev, Chairman of the Board of Kaufland Bulgaria.
International projects
The project "INNOVATIVE EDUCATION IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THROUGH CIRCULAR TRANSFORMATION AND MODERNIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF Veliko Tarnovo "St. Peter and Paul". St. Cyril and Methodius", Sofia University "St. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI, SOUTH-WESTERN UNIVERSITY "NEOFIT RILSKY" AND TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF GABROVO IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES FROM GREECE, POLAND AND ROMANIA", TO BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME "SCIENCE AND EDUCATION FOR INTELLIGENT GROWTH" 2014-2020, FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND. The International Associated Universities partners of this project are Adam Mickiewicz University in Sofia, Bulgaria. The University of Poznan, Poland, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and the University of Poznan, Greece. Pitești, Romania.
The project entitled "MEDIA CULTURE IN THE NEW DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT" under the Rila Programme Bulgaria-France Bilateral Cooperation Programme Projects Competition 2021. The project foresees cooperation between the Faculty of Life Sciences of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and the Universite de Versailles St-Quentin- en-Yvelines in Paris, France, as one of the main objectives is precisely the deepening and development of relations with the scientists from the foreign university.
Representatives of FJMC participate in the project No 101004811 MEDIADELCOM OF THE HORIZON 2020 PROGRAMME: CRITICAL EXPLORATION OF MEDIA RELATED RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DELIBERATIVE COMMUNICATION: DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS OF THE EUROPEAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE (2021-2024). The Consortium involves 17 higher education institutions The Consortium comprises 17 universities and research institutes from 14 member states of the European Union. The overall objective of MEDIADELCOM is to develop a diagnostic tool for policy makers, educators, authorities and institutions, as well as media experts and journalists to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with deliberative communication in Europe.