The Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava is commemorating the 60th anniversary of its founding this academic year. It was established in 1952 at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University, originally as the Department of Journalism and Librarianship, and as early as 1956 it had its first graduates – Richard Blech, Sláva Kalný, Štefan Kmeť, and Juraj Vereš. In 1960, an independent Department of Journalism was constituted, and since 1992 it has operated under the name Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University. The head of the Department of Journalism since 2009 has been Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Svetlana Hlavčáková, PhD.
The Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava is the oldest and most prestigious university journalism school in Slovakia. It is commemorating its significant sixtieth jubilee with several activities. On Thursday, November 29, 2012, a scientific conference with international participation will be held at the Faculty of Arts at Gondova 2, on the theme 60 Years of Higher Education in Journalism in Slovakia, with the subtitle University Preparation of Journalists in the Digital Age. The conference will feature current and former faculty members of the department, representatives of Slovak universities, and colleagues from the Czech Republic, France, Austria, and the United States of America will address foreign journalism education. The aim of the event is to present the changes that the journalistic profession is undergoing as a result of social transformations and new information and communication technologies, as well as the consequent demands on the professional training of journalists at home and abroad. On the day of the conference, a gathering of conference participants, guests, teachers, and alumni of the department will take place at a Glass of Wine in Moyzes Hall in Bratislava, where the department will launch the anthology 60 Interviews. It will also commemorate the work of the late colleague Assoc. Prof. Boris Droppa.
Students and doctoral candidates of the department have prepared an anthology titled 60 Interviews. It features 50 profile interviews with figures who have worked or are actively working in the media and are post-November graduates of the department, as well as 10 interviews with its former and current faculty members. It will also include a brief Chronology of the Department's Development. As part of their media workshops, students will produce radio programs, a television documentary, and video presentations, which they will make available on the department's website. The student internet magazine Webjournal will also cover the round anniversary. Third-year bachelor's students from the television studio were guests on October 31 on TV Markíza's morning magazine Teleráno, where they presented their 60-year-old department to viewers. Throughout November, successful alumni of the department are giving lectures to share their practical experience with students. Katedrálka, a traditional student event held on the occasion of freshman matriculation, will take place on December 5. It will conclude the series of activities commemorating the department's significant anniversary with the "christening" of the publication 60 Interviews.
The Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava offers both levels of university journalism studies – bachelor's and master's, as well as doctoral studies in the field of Theory and History of Journalism. It has been granted the authority to conduct rigorous examinations, habilitation procedures, and inauguration proceedings. Over its sixty years of existence, it has confirmed its status as a scientific and pedagogical institution. It laid not only the foundations of journalistic education in Slovakia but also the development of journalism theory. Since 1989, department staff have published over 60 original textbooks and monographs. The department houses the research center Mass-Media-Science Association, which publishes the oldest professional journal for the theory, research, and practice of mass media communication in Slovakia – Otázky žurnalistiky (Questions of Journalism). Department faculty are developing intensive relationships with prestigious universities from European Union countries and the United States of America. Since 2000 alone, over 50 international conferences, seminars, colloquia, lectures, and workshops can be credited to the Department of Journalism.
Since 2006, students of the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava have been able to train practical skills through internet projects – the journalism student magazine Webjournal.sk and the radio broadcast RadioAktiv.sk. Television and print projects are developing thanks to good cooperation with selected representatives of Slovak media. The Department of Journalism has long-term collaborations with many media outlets, publishing houses, and various institutions and organizations. Successful alumni of the department, working journalists, and professors from prestigious journalism schools abroad regularly participate in teaching at the department. Winners of the most prestigious journalistic award – the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism – have lectured at Comenius University and led workshops at the Department of Journalism: Tvrtko Vujity from Hungary (2010), Joshua Friedman (2011), and Tim Weiner (2012), both from the USA.
For six decades, the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava has significantly influenced the profile of Slovak journalism. It has introduced hundreds of successful graduates into professional practice, who have found positions as journalists, managers, publishers, and spokespersons, and who were shaped by dozens of exceptional personalities from among the department's faculty.
Mgr. Eva Bachletová, PhD. Academic Advisor of the Department of Journalism http://www.fphil.uniba.sk/index.php?id=kzur