Conference PR, Media & Sport Days Mostariensis: New developments in the world of integrated communications

For the seventh year in a row, the Department of Public Relations and the Department of Journalism of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Mostar are the organizers of the International scientific and professional conference PR, Media & Sport Days Mostariensis, which in this year's edition focused on the convergence of sports, public relations and media in the world of integrated communications. During the Conference, more than forty presentations and three panels, domestic and foreign presenters in three days presented their thoughts, theses and conclusions, which they hope will contribute to the further development of the symbiosis of sports, public relations and the media. This year's co-organizers of the Conference were the Faculty of Audiovisual Media and Creative Technologies from the Inland University of Applied Sciences from Norway, the Faculty of Organizational Sciences from Belgrade and the University North from the Republic of Croatia.

Rector of the University of Mostar, Prof Zoran Tomić, PhD, during the official opening of the Conference, said: "The PR, Media and Sport Days Mostariensis conference was created because of the students. They were the focus of our engagement and action." The conference began with the Student Section, composed of nine teams from Mostar, Zagreb, Belgrade, Osijek, Dubrovnik and Koprivnica, and the award for the best presentation was awarded to students of the Department of Communication at the University of Dubrovnik, Bruna Bilić, Iva Oberan and Anđela Violić for the topic PR in Judo.

As part of the first day of the Conference, a PR panel was held with the title Convergence of media and public relations - technology, content and communication, followed by presentations by authors on numerous topics in the PR section, while during the second day of the Conference, the central topic was the media. In the Media section, a panel on Media Convergence in Practice was held, in which well-known journalists and media experts from the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina took part, after which experts from the field of public relations and journalism also gave their presentations, and some of the topics were The Influence and Significance of Media Convergence on the Promotion and Popularization of Sports Content; New Forms of Video Expression – Vodcast; Comparative Analysis of the Convergence of Public Radio Services in BiH and Croatia and others. The third, last day and the theme of Sport opened with the panel Who does football belong to?, which was also followed by the presentations of the participants of this year's Conference, and the topics were about sports.

As part of the Conference, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Mostar and the Department of Public Relations awarded special awards to companies that contributed exceptionally to the development of students with their programs of student internships and practical classes. Recognitions were awarded to: ELITE Media, Government of HNŽ/K, HT ERONET, Student Center Mostar, FEAL d.o.o., University Clinical Hospital Mostar, DEGORDIAN, HŠK Zrinjski, Public RelationsOffice/SUM, City of Mostar, Hrvatska pošta d.o.o. Mostar and Meggle. Also on the margins of the Conference, plaques were awarded for contribution to the development of public relations, media and integrated communication in South-Eastern Europe to Prof Sanja Bijakšić, PhD, from SUM and Dejan Jazvić, editor-in-chief of the Federal News Agency, the leading news agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The conclusions of the seventh international conference, eight of them, were presented by the assistant professor Marijan Primorac, PhD, Chairman of the Organizing Committee:

1. The development of communication technology continuously creates the basis for more and more levels of convergence, which affects changes in communication patterns, learning, business, information, creation and use of collective knowledge.
2. The convergence of the media landscape creates a new communication paradigm for public relations practitioners. Therefore, now, more than ever, it is necessary to acquire new knowledge and respect the generally accepted ethical principles of the profession, which due to the number and anonymity of communicators in the public space are often facing a major test.
3. By using new AI-based approaches within public relations programs, communication professionals can use more time for creative tasks and research.
4. Converged newsrooms have become an integral part of every media. Journalists today have to do more than one job, which calls into question the quality of content and the credibility of information. Editors and media owners need to be more understanding towards journalists if they want to maintain high standards of journalism.
5. Disregarding the ethical standards of journalism, spreading fake news and spreading moral panic leads to a decline in trust in the media. Journalists should present the true values ​​of journalism in their work in order to effectively deal with the challenges of the time and environment.
6. The development of technologies has opened up new possibilities and brought numerous changes, above all the emergence of new forms of video expression and television genres. The media audience looking for VIDEO has also changed. VODCAST as a new form of video expression is growing in popularity and it can be said that the VODCAST ERA is beginning.
7. Convergence implies an increasing role of the media in the very management of processes in sports, above all sports competitions and events.
8. Communication competence in the context of convergence and relations with the media enables sports teams to generate positive exposure in the public, increase interest and ensure a higher quality of consumption of sports content and events.

Then, Primorac thanked the Conference participants, co-organizers, members of the Organizing Committee and sponsors, Podravka, the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva County, Meggle and Interconnect, for their support and social responsibility.

Recordings of the Conference can be found on the University Television (SUMTV) website. Also, the first episode of the PR Days Vodcast, in which guest was Mario Aunedi Medek, president of the Croatian Association for Public Relations, is also available.