The first series of workshops attended by the high school students from Cluj included in the #SchoolNews program implemented by PONT has successfully ended. During September-October, young people took part in interactive workshops led by experts and hosted by Zbor Hub. During these sessions, high school students actively connected with the topics discussed and engaged in practical teamwork sessions. They learned new and useful information, interacted in a different way with their peers and learned new methods and techniques specific to each topic. 

This fall’s #SchoolNews workshops were:

• Chaotic online environment: fact-check, deep fake, etc. – how do we deal with it? – by Codruța Simina, investigative journalist;
• Genres and formats in journalism – how to choose them well for your story? – by Bianca Felseghi, investigative journalist;
• Visual basics – visual trends in journalism – by Attila Kelemen, Senior Marketing Consultant;
• Why is it important to have press? – Purpose and roles of media in today’s society // Ethics and legal – what is good to know about ethics in journalism? // Values in journalism – by Cristina Lupu, Executive Director of the Center for Independent Journalism

 About the trainers: 

Codruța Simina is a 41-year-old investigative journalist specialized in detecting online disinformation campaigns. With almost 20 years of experience in local and national media, Codruța specializes in all genres of journalism, from interviews and stories to investigations and editorials.

Bianca Felseghi has been a journalist since 2004. She writes investigative materials, stories and interviews. She started in print media, when newspapers were printed on a daily basis, then adapted to the online press, even if she was left with the nostalgia of the smell of ink. She has been writing for PressOne since 2015. 

Attila Kelemen (51) works in branding and teaches advertising at university. He started his career in online media and radio, after which he was head of marketing at a multinational company. He probably has the largest collection of Lego figurines in Romania.

Cristina Lupu is the executive director of the Center for Independent Journalism and, together with the CIJ team, is building and growing the largest media education program in Romania. She firmly believes that without journalism we are all more vulnerable, but also that without media literacy, without an educated public, accurate information can be lost in noise and misinformation. 

The event is part of the #SchoolNews project, implemented by PONT during June 2024 – June 2025. The project benefits from the involvement of pupils of “Nicolae Bălcescu” High School, “George Coșbuc” National College, Reformed Theological High School, “Avram Iancu” High School and “Emil Racoviță” National College. With the guidance of experts, the pupils, who are members of editorial offices, will be helped to become better prepared in regards to digital media literacy competencies, will receive valuable information and develop abilities that are necessary in the practice of journalism, will develop their critical thinking and will benefit from consistent support in developing their own media products.