JOURNALISM EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC: PROS AND CONS

The article discusses journalism education affected by the increased information scope, media convergence and introduction of new online teaching forms and face-to-screen communication during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the introduction of distance learning at universities, the quality of teaching and learning has been debated by students, teaching staff and officials. By having to overcome the difficulties, the students majoring in Journalism develop a necessary skill of gathering information and issuing school newspapers, radio and TV programs in the new informational reality of the crisis. The study included a survey aimed at finding out how students and faculty assess effectiveness of distance learning in COVID-19 context. Using a method of case study to make a complex analysis, the authors examine the academic process at the RUDN's Department of Mass Communications as empirical object. The survey results reveal the key problems the respondents had to face when organizing and participating in the online learning process. The survey also helped to indicate the most convenient applications for online lecturing and the most effective teaching techniques, and to analyze the performance of the university's internal telecommunication learning and information system.