ZAGREB, July 8, 2019 – Investigative journalists who are members of the Croatian Journalists Association (HND) said on Sunday that they were concerned about reports saying that the Journalism Department of Zagreb’s Faculty of Political Science planned to cancel its investigative journalism course, calling on the faculty to deal with problems concerning the status of journalistic studies to the benefit and future of the journalistic profession.
“The news comes at a time when we witness, almost on a daily basis, top investigative stories that reveal corruption and abuse of authority, bearing witness to the importance of investigative journalism. The news is even more incredible considering the fact that the current faculty dean based his programme, among other things, on the strengthening of journalistic studies. How the cancellation of the investigative journalism course fits into that remains completely unclear,” the HNS said in a statement.
It noted that by planning to cancel a course that should be the cornerstone of journalistic studies, the faculty was knowingly ignoring its social responsibility for the education of future journalists and the journalistic profession in general.
The HND further said that it had the impression that even though they were under the same roof, political science studies and journalistic studies did not have the same status.
The umbrella journalists’ association also objected to the fact that investigative journalism was an elective course, noting that it should be a compulsory course in serious journalistic studies.
More news about journalism in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
