As part of the activities of the cameramen section within the AJM, this weekend a three-day workshop was held in Ohrid on the topic: “Improving cooperation between cameramen and journalists”, at which a special reflection was made by Viktor Stefanovski – executive producer of Sitel TV, Predrag Perovic – cameraman from the Public Service of Montenegro (RTCG) and Goran Koprivica – cameraman from Radio Television Serbia (RTS), with Trajce Ilievski, representative of the cameramen section of the AJM as moderator of the event.
In the address to the participants, the President of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, Mladen Chadikovski, stated: “Such events and training are of extreme importance for the sections of the AJM, where through joint discussion and presenting of problems, communication is improved and the skills of journalists, cameramen and media workers promoted in the future. The practice of journalists and cameramen to debate together on the challenges in journalism will help towards raising the quality of teamwork, in the spirit of mutual understanding, and ultimately, a better quality product, story, reportage and similar”.
The representative of the AJM cameramen section, Trajce Ilievski, stressed that such events are very important for the section and that they contribute to improving the cooperation, solidarity between the field and strengthening the capacity of cameramen on the one side, and journalists on the other. I am pleased with the fact that at this meeting there are about thirty cameramen are participating and journalist from 10 cities in the country, as well as two regional representatives from Serbia and Montenegro. In addition to exchanging comparative experience and challenges that we face on a daily basis, we have come to joint conclusions on what we need to focus on in the future in the interest of promoting this area in the future.
The primary responsibilities of journalists and cameramen, daily cooperation on events on the field and inside the newsroom, their communication and coordination, and what the TV reports will look like in the future, topics that Viktor Stefanovski opened were discussed at the workshop.
Goran Koprivica (Radio Television Serbia) and Predrag Perovic (Radio Television Montenegro), guest lecturers, spoke about comparative experiences in the relationships and communication between journalists and cameramen in the public service in Serbia and Montenegro.
“In Serbia, just like here, during events, the problem that arises that we all face is the space and work conditions. But thanks to the mutual support with colleagues, we managed to fix this. I would like to give an example of how things work in countries like France: during the time of the visit of then president of France, Jacques Chirac, in Belgrade, their team arrived with complete equipment for broadcasting, starting from lighting, all in order for their president to be presented in the best possible way, no matter where in the world he is.
I have to share my satisfaction that you, the colleagues from North Macedonia have already done this with the section of cameramen at AJM, as well as the mutual cooperation for events like these, you are pioneers of the Western Balkans and I congratulate you on the shown initiative and solidarity between the representatives of the field– pointed out Koprivica from RTS.
Colleague Predrag Petrovic from the Public Service of Montenegro, agreed with the general statement and said: “The same is happening in Montenegro, we are facing the same challenges, but we managed to overcome them thanks to the mutual cooperation and solidarity.” But just like colleague Goran from RTS, I believe that what you have done and are doing as a section of cameramen should be conveyed as an experience among our colleagues as an example of mutual collaboration – said Perovic
There were practical exercises and a discussion on mutual communication, the role of journalist and the role of cameraman, within the framework of the workshop, and ethics in the work of cameramen and the specifics and details of the daily challenges faced by cameramen and journalists were also discussed.
The advantages of the profession and the challenges faced by cameramen in the country and neighboring countries were shared in the open discussion.
It was concluded that cooperation between cameramen and journalists exists, there is great professional solidarity, but there is always room for improvement that will be worked on in the future. This workshop was met with positive comments and criticism between the section of cameramen and journalists, which represents a step forward in improving the work conditions in this field.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
