Inclusive Journalist Education in Croatia: Transformative Potential of Media

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the idea of inclusive pedagogy as social justice that serves to develop the inclusive potentials of community media by strengthening the professional capacity of journalists and increasing the quality of media content. Recent official media discourse analysis conducted in Croatia has shown a number of problems in media coverage of vulnerable social groups. The existing media approach desensitizes the public to the specific problems such groups face, and in such way indirectly contributes to their social exclusion. Within this problem framework, a unique program of additional courses for journalists has been created aiming to build their intercultural competences for lifelong learning in promoting and applying desirable patterns of tolerance and social inclusion in their work. This service-learning courses will primarily sensitize journalists to the rights of vulnerable groups and further develop their professional competences for the appropriate media presentation of vulnerable groups, especially the ex-prisoners, in order to increase their visibility in society, raise public awareness of their rights and increase equal opportunities to work.