On 4 June 2026, the winners of the Responsible Influencer competition had the opportunity to experience what it is like to work as journalists under the guidance of experienced media professionals. They discovered what it takes to produce a news report – from writing scripts and recording voiceovers to presenting in front of the camera.
A total of 104 children and young people from 25 primary and secondary schools across Slovakia took part in the Responsible Influencer competition. In addition to material prizes, the winning teams received the opportunity to attend a workshop led by professionals from Czech Television and Slovak Radio. The competition was organised by the Council for Media Services under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic.
More information about the competition and its winners can be found in the article: The Responsible Influencer competition: Slovak students addressed the topics of advertising and content credibility.
During the full-day workshop held at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication of UCM in Trnava, participants learned from experts from both the media industry and academia. The lecturers included members of the Responsible Influencer jury – Sláva Gracová (FMK UCM), Jana Balková (STVR) and Ondřej Hruška (Czech Television). Additional expert contributions were provided by Petr Kopecký (Czech Television), Lukáš Vopršal (Czech Television) and Martin Graca (FMK UCM).
“We greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet media professionals who shared their experience openly, professionally and in such an engaging way,” said Viktória Figuľová, a teacher of one of the winning teams from the Grammar School in Košice.
During the morning session, students and their accompanying teachers watched video messages from jury members, who addressed the winners with many encouraging words.
Participants then received feedback on their competition entries. Ondřej Hruška, a journalist from Czech Television and member of the video jury, praised the winning teams' ability to capture viewers’ attention, as well as their camera work and editing skills. He also offered recommendations on how to further improve shot composition, on-camera performance and the overall quality of their videos.
As podcasts dominated the audio category, the audio jury focused much of its feedback on podcast structure. The winners received advice on how to introduce topics and guests effectively, ensure good sound quality and minimise background noise, even without access to a professional studio.
The programme also included a theoretical session on the fundamentals of journalism and a mock press conference. During the theoretical session, students learned what makes a quality news report and what aspects should be considered when creating journalistic content. They then put this knowledge into practice during the press conference, where they had the opportunity to ask follow-up questions and gather information needed for preparing their own reports.
The young creators were then divided into two teams and tasked with preparing materials for individual interviews with the lecturers. During the filming itself, the students experienced different aspects of production, including script preparation, the positioning of the camera and microphone handling.
“I really enjoyed conducting the interview, even though I am more interested in the technical side of things. I especially enjoyed operating the camera,” said Dávid Marton, one of the winners from St Nicholas Catholic United School in Prešov.
The afternoon session was devoted to practical activities. The participants moved to the university’s professional studios, where they had the opportunity to try presenting in front of the camera, working with an autocue and recording audio segments.
According to Viktória Norisová, Head of the Media Literacy Department and organiser of the workshop: “We are very pleased to cooperate with the Faculty of Mass Media Communication, which is part of the Media Literacy+ platform coordinated by the Council for Media Services. We are also grateful to the faculty for providing its facilities, which allowed the children to work with professional equipment – an experience that many of them found truly memorable.”
The day also featured a prize-giving, during which the organisers highlighted the winners’ creativity, responsible approach to content creation and talent.
“The workshop was an extremely valuable experience for our students and a truly exceptional day filled with positive impressions. In addition to the wonderful prizes they received in the Responsible Influencer competition, they gained a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes of media production and to try out various related roles in practice. They realised how much work and responsibility lie behind the creation of media content and took away not only new knowledge and skills, but also many experiences and inspiration that they will be able to use in their school radio and school magazine projects. I am also very happy that I could be part of it, as it was a wonderful day for me as well,” said Simona Vnuková, a teacher at J. C. Hronský Primary School in Šaľa.
The winning entries are available on the Council for Media Services’ YouTube channel.
Watch Czech Television’s report from the workshop.
Read the article published by The Media Literacy Centre (IMEC) (in Slovak).