April 4, 2020 - Fresh from her tale of self-isolation in Split on TCN, Romanian Mirela Rus produces the first video collaboration with Robert Tomic-Zuber's new R+ platform.
It is just four days, but (as 4 days does in the Corona Era) is feels a lifetime ago that Romanian Mirela Rus kindly sent in the first contribution to TCN's new interview series, Foreigner Self-Isolation in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer? aimed at the expat community here, and their experiences under lockdown compared to what is happening in their home country. You can read Mirela's article here.
I was expecting a reasonable response, and I had a few friends I could persuade to take part if the idea flopped, but I was staggered at the level of interest, as well as the quality of the content from all over the country from expats from all over the world.
So far, we have uploaded 25 stories from expats in Croatia who are from Romania, USA, Ireland, UK, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Singapore, Holland, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Latvia, Australia, China and Germany. Additional ones from Moldova, Egypt, Brazil and Hungary are coming soon. You can see them all in this link.
The most compelling, in a very competitive field, was this morning's submission from Sisi Peng from China, currently holed up with Croatian husband in post-earthquake Zagreb. Her account of self-isolation here, combined with detailed timeline of a disaster unfolding, as well as the racism and stigmatism suffered by Chinese citizens in these corona weeks, is a gripping read.
Given the human interest in these stories, we have decided to try and look at the situation from the opposite angle - how are Croats abroad holding up, and how does corona in Croatia look from where they are? Our first two submissions will be coming from Vietnam and corona hot spot, New York City.
If you would like to contribute to the Corona Voices in the Diaspora series, please find the questions below. Email with 4-6 photos to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Diaspora, with a para about yourself as well.
Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.
When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue?
When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue in your location in particular?
Give us a timeline on when and how life changed.
Tell us about your day. Do you/can you leave your home?
How are the authorities doing at handling the situation?
You obviously keep an eye on your homeland. What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis?
Compare and contrast the responses of Croatia and the country where you are. Who is doing what better?
What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?
What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation?
One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis.
If you could be self-isolating in Croatia, where would it be, and why?
But back to our favourite Romanian Mirela Rus...
TCN recently announced a media partnership with Robert Tomic Zuber and his new R+ video portal, which is initially focused on telling the personal stories of corona in the region, and the stories of people from the region elsewhere in the world. A video version of the two TCN concepts above.
And as Mirela has a little more time than usual at the moment, she became the first submission to do from TCN interview to R+ video. Both were great - thank you!
If you would like to contribute to either TCN or R+ with your stories, please find below the submission guidelines.
TCN is starting a new feature series on foreign experiences of sitting out COVID-19 here in Croatia compared to their home country. If you would like to contribute, the questions are below. Please also include a para about yourself and where you are from, and a link to your website if you would like. Please also send 3-4 photos minimum to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Corona Foreigner
If you would be interested to record a video version for our partners www.rplus.video please let us know in the email. Thanks and stay safe.
Foreigners Self-Isolating in Croatia: Do You Feel Safer Than in Your Home Country?
Firstly, how are you? Are you alone/with someone? Tell us a little about your situation and sanity levels.
What do you think about the economic measures the government is taking, are they helping your business? (PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS DOES NOT AFFECT YOU)
When did you realise that corona was going to be a big issue?
What is your impression of the way Croatia is dealing with the crisis? How safe do you feel?
Now compare that to your home country and how they are handling it. What is Croatia doing better/worse?
What about official communications from the authorities, compared to your home country?
What's the one thing you wish you had taken with you into self-isolation.
One thing you have learned about yourself, and one thing you have learned about others during this crisis.
TCN has recently become a partner in Robert Tomic Zuber's new R+ video channel, initially telling stories about corona experiences. You can see the first TCN contribution from this morning, my video from Jelsa talking about the realities of running a news portal in the corona era below. If you would like to also submit a video interview, please find Robert's guidelines below
VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE
The video footage should be recorded so that the cell phone is turned horizontally (landscape mode).
There are several rules for television and video news:- length is not a virtue- a picture speaks more than a thousand words
In short, this would mean that your story should not last more than 90 seconds and that everything you say in the report should be shown by video (for example, if you talk about empty streets, we should see those empty streets, etc.).
How to do it with your cell phone? First, use a selfie camera to record yourself telling your story for about a minute and a half. Ideally, it would be taken in the exterior, except in situations where you are reporting on things in the interior (quarantine, hospital, self-isolation, etc.). Also, when shooting, move freely, make sure everything is not static.
After you have recorded your report, you should capture footage that will tell your story with a picture, such as an earlier example with empty streets.
One of the basic rules of TV journalism is that the story is told in the same way as a journalist with his text. Therefore, we ask you for additional effort. Because we work in a very specific situation, sometimes you may not be able to capture footage for each sentence of the report. In this case, record the details on the streets: people walking, the main features of the city where you live, inscriptions on the windows related to the virus, etc.
The same rules apply if you are shooting a story from your apartment, self-isolation, quarantine. We also need you to capture footage that describes your story.
When shooting frames to cover your reports, it is important that you change the angle of the shot (in other words, shoot that empty street from several angles). Also, when shooting a detail, count at least five seconds before removing the camera to another detail.
The material should be about 5 minutes long (90 seconds of your report + frames to cover your story).
After recording everything, send us to Zagreb, preferably via WeTransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
