Included and excluded. Young journalists and the begging phenomenon in Timisoara

This study is structured on two levels, because it aims for two combined goals. On the first level we find the scientific description and significance of an educational activity, since the students have been instructed to collect information and to redact a communication product as similar as possible to a journalistic investigation. The theme was the following: how much do beggars in Timisoara earn. On the same axis, students were encouraged to use their own electronic equipment (digital mobile phones, tablets, laptops, video recorders). On the second level we find the selection of relevant information about the beggars’ situation in Timisoara, about their incomes and also about their specific and individual situation. Special attention was given to the communication texts used by the beggars to interact with potential donors, thus fulfilling various objectives: 1) students had the opportunity to act as real professional journalists, and to produce communication products publishable by any respectable editorial; 2) a practical didactic activity with results rating much higher than the ones currently being lectured; 3) a closely real image of begging activities in Timisoara, accomplished with diverse but convergent approaches.