Lecturer at VU Faculty of Communication, LRT Radio journalist and presenter / Journalism; Analytical Journalism
Why and when did you decide to study journalism? Was it a childhood dream?
From a very young age, I wanted to be able to help other people, especially those who have a harder life and problems. I also really wanted to be able to clearly identify the hurts in our society and to bring them to the public in order to make them think. I decided to study journalism and to be a journalist when I was in the eighth grade, when my mother asked me what I wanted to be while we were washing the dishes and talking. We considered acting and law, but settled on journalism. From today's perspective, I can safely say that it was the right choice. I live and breathe the satisfaction of being able to defend the public interest, to serve society, to educate it and to educate myself. And I would certainly not say that this was or is my dream. No, it is not a dream. We have to realise that life offers a lot of opportunities, so we just have to decide what we want, and work very hard, very hard and very wholeheartedly. Then we will get it.
Do you have any memories from your university days that stick in your mind?
If someone gave me the opportunity today to go back to my first year, to study again and live that carefree student life, I would not hesitate. The student years were probably the best. I enjoyed studying, especially the things that seemed to make sense. But the best thing about university was the life experience and the people. Especially my fellow students, who were incredibly inquisitive, motivated, thoughtful and enlightened. Learning together and being together with these people was invaluable. And the paradox is that I would never have thought in my life that I could work in radio. However, it was during my studies that I found myself in a radio group with a wonderful teacher, my current colleague at LRT Radio, Giedrė Čiužaitė. She infected us with a passionate love for radio that still burns to this day.
What was your first job in general and what was your first job after graduating in journalism?
My first job was at the Joniškio district newspaper "Joniškio dienos" (eng. Joniškis daily). I started working with it when I was 17 years old and still at school. Birutė Kybartienė, the founder and editor of the newspaper, is an excellent journalist who gave me a solid foundation in journalism before I even started studying journalism. Radio came into my life after my second year, when I did an internship at LRT Radio. I only had to practice for a month, and I practiced for two. And I worked from morning to night, without counting time or energy. Then I went to Finland for six months on an exchange programme. As soon as I got back, I went to the radio and offered to work for no pay. I just really wanted to, especially as a lot of things were going well. So I've been working ever since. Almost ten years now.
Did the Faculty of Communication and your studies influence your personality? Are the knowledge and skills acquired at the university useful at work?
I would say yes. The biggest influence on my personality, development and career has been the people I have met at the Faculty of Communication and beyond. If you just attend lectures and do assignments, you will never get anywhere. You will not become a good journalist. It takes more than that - first of all, the willingness, the ability to communicate with people, to think critically, to do more than what your colleagues or your managers ask of you, and simply to want to defend the public interest. No university can teach you these things. You have to develop all these things yourself.
Tell us about your working day?
My working day looks like many things. My main job is to produce news and read it on air. At LRT Radio we work in shifts, so there are days when I have to work early in the morning, late in the evening or even at night. I really like working in the newsroom because I have to take an interest in everything from the daily life of the town of Baisogala to the military conflict in Syria to the diplomatic and spiritual news of the Vatican. But, of course, that is not enough for me. I need more. So every Friday, after the news or before the news, I prepare and host a two-hour live radio programme. I am very happy that the LRT management gives me absolute freedom, so I do whatever I want to do and whatever I think is important and interesting for the listeners at the time. One Friday I can broadcast from Baisogala, the next I can broadcast live from a hairdresser's salon and interview the people who are getting their hair cut at the time, and the next I can bring a story to the listeners about, for example, a woman who has turned a caravan into her dream house. The freedom to create and the technological possibilities today are enormous, so just keep spinning. And the fun is when listeners write or call after the show to thank you for the show and say something like, "Thank you, dear Edvardas. On Fridays, I make a coffee, sit down in front of the radio and listen. You always surprise me. And so interesting."
Based on your experience as a student, what advice would you give to current journalism students?
Every time I meet my students for the first time in the radio room at the Faculty of Communication, I ask them if they are studying here for the sake of it or if they want to be journalists. If they answer that they are studying for the sake of studying, I am not worried that these young people will fall in love with journalism and with radio. If they answer that they really want to be journalists, I am not just trying to help them become journalists - I am sharing the advice that I have already accumulated from my work experience. If necessary, I also help to lay out reports, and sometimes to edit them. It's easy for me to go the extra mile if I see that a young person needs my help. We are all working towards a common goal. The biggest problem nowadays is that young people often don't know what they want out of their studies and life in general. It is as if they want everything at the same time, but they end up not getting much at all. Or they get very little. So I would advise young people to first sit down quietly and decide whether they want to be a regular 'somebody' or whether they want to be a professional in their field, to create exceptional content, to help people, to make people happy and to influence society. If so, go ahead. If not, let them sit tight. Sooner or later, the day will come when everything will shine through and a decision will be made. And I would also advise you not to look at your studies as some important stage in your life that needs to be lived in a very disciplined way, but rather as a means to an end. Studying has never hurt anyone. It is important to know why you are studying and where you are going to use the knowledge you have gained.