“Where will be the puck?...”
The discussions about whether journalism can be considered as a science are as ageless as discussions about its essence. Is it an aspect of literature? Is it a craft? Is it an art? Those who do research in MediaStudies area in our country are concerned about what sciences are the main ones in academic profession and how one should shape his work towards the traditional philology in Russia if he studies computer games, virtual or augmented reality, data journalism or robotic algorithms of text generation.
The past HSE panel discussion “Mosaic of variables” was dedicated to the abovementioned topic; scientific responsibility, standards and academic transdisciplinary tracks were also discussed there. Where will be the puck? Will it be journalism, mediacommunications, digital cultures, digital technologies and educational programmes in universities in Russia? The following people participated and had a chance to express their own opinions during that panel discussion: Yaroslav Skvortsov, head of the School of International Journalism, MGIMO; Viktor Barabash, dean of the Philological Faculty, RUDN; Mikhail Makeenko, deputy head of Journalism Faculty, MSU; Ilya Kiria, head of the media department of Communications, Media and Design Faculty, HSE; Anna Kachkaeva, director of the Centre for Digital Cultures and Media Literacy HSE; heads of HSE journalism and mediacommunications programmes – Anna Novikova, Aleksander Kupriyanov, Vera Berezhnaya and colleagues from different universities of the country.
One of the main topics of the panel discussion was devoted to the naming of the academic profession 10.01.19. There is a need to edit it to reflect current realities. CDCML HSE suggested to name it “10.01.10 – journalism and media communications”. There were other suggestions like “mass communications”, just “communications” etc. Every suggestion provoked discussion and triggered different emotions: from arrogance to optimism. However, the majority agreed that changes were needed in the academic aspect of our profession.
The Panel discussion was organised at HSE as a part of “Autumn Aduthon”. HSE Centre for Digital Cultures and Media Literacy and ANCO “Commonwealth of professors of new media” held this event for journalism and media professors as a part of “Understanding Media” School. Two-days event that gathered together 20 representatives of regional universities in Russia was dedicated to discussion of new challenges of media communications environment and digital competences of new professions.