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Dr. Tudor Vlad lecturing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. |
Dr. Tudor Vlad Tells Wisconsin Students About Role of Media in Transition to Democracy
Dr. Tudor Vlad, a visiting research scientist in the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, gave six presentations to the faculty and students in the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, in late September on such topics as Censorship in a Totalitarian Regime and European Media Coverage of U.S. Issues.
Dr. Vlad, who founded the School of Journalism at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, was a special guest in the Speaker Series on International Journalism sponsored by the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, September 23 to 26. In addition to his six presentations to journalism faculty and students, he gave one presentation for the Dean's International Forum in the College of Letters and Science.
"After five decades of government control and censorship, East European media regained their dignity and have played an important role during the transition towards democracy," Dr. Vlad told the students at Oshkosh. "Now, what we need is a new generation of journalists, well-trained and willing to adopt the international standards of professional journalism--accurate reporting, unbiased coverage, media ethics."
The main topics of Dr. Vlad's lectures were international journalism and the role of media during transition periods in emerging democracies. Dr. Vlad also detailed the media training programs conducted by the Cox Center around the world and the main findings of the 2000 Annual Surveys of Journalism and Mass Communication, housed in the Cox Center.
Many questions raised by the students referred to the September 11 terrorist attack and its coverage by European media. Dr. Vlad presented a comparative analysis of American, French, British and Romanian newspapers and the way foreign media localized and interpreted the event. He identified the main sources of the information and explained why the construction of news sources was different in some cases.
"It is necessary for our students to understand the importance of an international approach to media," said Dr. James Tsao, the administrator of the Speaker Series of International Journalism financed by the Vander Putten International Funds of UW-Oshkosh. "Dr. Vlad conveyed to the students that an understanding of other cultural perspectives is helpful to aspiring journalists."
"Dr. Vlad's remarks and insights were both thoroughly engaging and edifying", said Dr. Michael Zimmerman, the Dean of the College of Letters and Science of UW-Oshkosh. "I hope his visit is the beginning of a relationship between our Department of Journalism and the Cox Center."
Dr. Vlad is a visiting research scientist in the Cox Center. He came to the Cox Center from Romania in September 1999 as a senior Fulbright scholar. Dr. Vlad has worked with Dr. Lee B. Becker, Cox Center director, on a book that examines the role of copyright in economic development in the United States and in Eastern Europe. He also has contributed to the development of media training programs initiated by the Cox Center.
The topics of Dr. Vlad's talks were: Censorship in a Totalitarian Regime, European Media Coverage of American Issues, Social, Economic and Cultural Challenges of the Transition from a Totalitarian System Towards a Democratic Society, European Perspectives of American Media, International Training Programs of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, Media in Eastern and Central Europe Before and After the Fall of Communism.
Challenges of the Transition from a Totalitarian System Towards a Democratic Society was the topic of the lecture given to the Dean's Forum.
