Olexandr Karpenko at the media school shared his thoughts on the prospects of agricultural journalism

Every Saturday, first-year journalists meet and practice their skills in the Media Lab, attend master classes, and meet with leading Ukrainian media professionals. On May 06, I visited the media school Olexandr Karpenko – honored journalist of Ukraine, head of the project "Ukrainians from ocean to ocean", editor of the magazine "Zerno". He was the founder of the regional TV and radio company "TV Kaharlyk", editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Hrani" and for almost 20 years was working as a correspondent for the All-Ukrainian publication "Silski visti (Rural news)".

His own story Olexandr Karpenko started with memories of working with NULES of Ukraine among other things, he said that his daughters also studied at our university.
Speaking about the profession of an agricultural journalist, Mr. Olexandr was happy to share his experience and knowledge. He advised students: "To start writing now is to look for a topic and interesting people, as well as read, write and listen if you want to become real journalists."

Agriculture is almost the only "living" sector that provides our economy with currency, taxes and food. "The mission of our state is to provide the world with food, because without it, prices in the world are rising," the journalist stressed. He spoke about agricultural production, features of the development of agricultural technology, innovative devices for farmers.

During the dialogue, in particular, Daria Shvets asked the guest about the development of the agricultural sector in the post-war period. He said that farmers and farmers would undoubtedly work, creativity and hard work would help them in their work, and, of course, the financial support of partners and the labor force of sappers who would clear the fields.
The first-year student did not stop asking the guest and asked a question that interested us all: "Where have you got such an attraction and love for agriculture and farming?’

Olexandr Karpenko replied that there is no better area for a journalist, because from one topic, you can make 10 more sub-topics, and every new topic is an incessant stream of interesting information. Also, his parents were engaged in agriculture, and now he does not avoid the opportunity not only to write about it, but also practices farming in his garden.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Olexandr gave some advice and instructions – he wished us inspiration and understanding of the meaning of the journalist's activities. He also encouraged us to develop in the field of agricultural journalism, because "writing about the agricultural sector, about farmers is interesting, honorable and noble" –  assured Olexandr Karpenko.

Elyzaveta Makhonyuk,
1st year student of the specialty "Journalism"