Dean of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University spoke about the dangers of bloggers and higher mathematics for the humanities

“Man-orchestra” with the civic position of a journalist

The press center of Moskovsky Komsomolets hosted an exclusive broadcast with the Dean of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, President of the National Association of Mass Media Researchers Elena Vartanova. At the meeting, they discussed the main thing: whether the “digit” will replace a living journalist, how to distinguish a fake from the truth, whether a journalist has the right to his opinion and why higher mathematics is at the Faculty of Journalism.

“A journalist is such a man-orchestra, a specialist of a very wide profile,” Elena Leonidovna began. Especially today, when journalism is going through a new technological and cultural-political stage of development, “interesting, but difficult.” First of all, because of digitalization.

“Bloggers, influencers, users themselves are now also becoming journalists to some extent,” she said. However, the main difference between a professional is journalistic ethics and social responsibility. A blogger may not be a journalist by education: he may be a political scientist, a business columnist, a cultural figure … “But if a blogger has no education at all, this is a disaster. Illiterate bloggers cause harm, influencers need to be legally regulated.” But Vartanova also said that the Faculty of Journalism is thinking about opening such a direction as blogging. And you still need to learn to be a blogger.

However, there are already digital signs of the times in teaching journalism at Moscow State University. In addition to classical journalism, these are web analytics and multimedia. And there is even a course on artificial intelligence. And also programming, big data skills, audience monitoring and analytics. On the “multimedia” from the first year they teach higher mathematics: statistics, logic. “Of course, everything is in such a soft, humanitarian form,” Vartanova explained. And yet, the university believes that a digital media journalist needs to understand where the audience is going. Be able to set tasks correctly and speak the same language with IT people.

In an era of competition from social media, journalism is changing. But a professional must be well informed, set the agenda, be the “expert of the first 5 minutes”. “Means of delivering information can change,” says Vartanova. But the essence of the profession remains. “Journalism has many tasks, including the moderation of public dialogue. A journalist should help people realize their civic position.”

We also discussed how important it is for a journalist to follow the “rules of the game”, or you can have your own opinion. Elena Vartanova reminded that there are two approaches: journalism of fact (news, American model) and journalism of opinions. Russia historically adheres to the second. In particular, the genre of journalism, “personal view and analysis of what is happening” is developed here like nowhere else in the world: certain TV programs, author’s columns, etc. On the other hand, “most of our publications are not party”. You should strive for objectivity, the comment should not be biased. “When one point of view dominates, it is already propaganda.”

Elena Leonidovna gave practical advice to everyone who does not want to fall for fakes. Which used to be called “ducks” or fried facts. “Fakes cause information hurricanes, fakes are usually emotionally colored negatively,” the expert noted. To understand the “information garbage”, you need to turn to reliable sources. “Choose ‘brands’, two or three newspapers and two or three news programs and focus on them.” In order not to become “information dependent”, one must rely on trusted sources.

When asked about the discord among students who sometimes find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades in political disputes, Vartanova named the following recipe: “Trust in the university, respect for each other, academic environment.” Like, students are hotheads, the desire for truth is invariable, especially at the Faculty of Journalism. But the university ennobles, a complex program “puts people down for books.” And already the books give an example of the fact that “nothing is new under the sun”, such disputes flared up and were successfully resolved before.

“It’s good that the concept of upbringing, and not an educational service, has returned to the legislation,” said the dean of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. “Citizen education is an important task.”