February 14, 2020 - A new direction for Total Croatia News 3 months ago, as three TCN interns joined the team from the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism at Zagreb University. It has been busy!

A few months ago, I was invited to give a seminar of how to run a news portal in Croatia to students at Zagreb University. I was delighted to accept the invitation even if I have not yet worked out how to successfully run a portal in The Beautiful Croatia. 

It was a fun event, and the students who braved the early morning 9am start were very engaged - you can see the seminar in the videos below. 

An idea came to mind during the seminar - to offer some kind of programme for TCN interns, if there was any interest. Like most things in life, I had no idea what I was doing or any concrete plan, but when three of the attendees enrolled in the programme, I knew I had to come up with something. 

It has been an interesting journey for all of us, especially our TCN interns, Ana Samodol, Paula Anic, and Janja Sestak. You can meet them all here. 

One of the things I like most about working with the business community in Croatia is learning how much many of its top performers are willing to give back, and I had no hesitation in contact some of them to enlist their help as mentors to our new young heroines. First up, PR guru, Kresimir Macan, former Communications Director to Prime Minister Plenkovic, who kindly met with Paula to discuss her passion for politics, and has been giving ongoing advice and support. 

Award-winning documentary-maker and director of the Zagreb Tour Film Festival, the legendica that is Spomenka Saraga, found time to discuss their shared passion for film with Ana - interview coming soon on TCN.

And Janja got to hang out with guitar virtuoso Yogi Lonich ahead of the release of his new album - you can read Yogi's interview here. 

I well remember the feeling of having my first article published online back on October 28, 2010 - Driving in Albania: Not for the Fainthearted. It is a really satisfying feeling, watching how complete strangers read - and like - your work. Among the fans who shared Ana's first piece was Sibenik  Mayor, Zeljko Buric. Thank you, Sir!

 It took me 50 years to get published in the UK with my piece in The Daily Telegraph last year, but Paula managed to get a byline in a London political website within a month of starting with TCN. Apologies for the title, one which was decided in London against our advice. 

And Janja has had some great success, most notably in her recent feature on a young bladesmith in Koprivinica. 

One of the tips I passed on was the need to work on the promotion of the articles, and so Janja followed my advice and sent it to the relevant portals. And the town of Koprivnica was quick in recognising the talents of bladesmith Ivan Mlinar. 

And then regional television got involved.  

And then national television - here is HRT filming with Ivan yesterday. And with Jutarnji List also in contact, it seems that Janja's article (topic and research 100% her own idea and work) is going truly national. Fantastic job. 

We are still finding our feet in the TCN Interns programme, and there isa a big Instagram initiative with our three young ladies starting soon, but a very solid start and congratulations from all three on a very solid start. I asked them how they are enjoying the programme so far. 

Ana - I love the opportunities which TCN gives me. What I like the most is that I don't have the pressure of writing things in which I am not interested. I can write about things that are in my interest, and if I don't have any inspiration, Paul encourages me to think about it. Also, I like that there is this easy atmosphere where you can decide when you want your deadline to be. Furthermore, I like that we meet new people, interview them and write about cultural and historical things. The next great thing is that at every meeting we discuss our topics. But not only that, we even talk about how we spend our day and what's new in our lives. I like that we can joke around at those meetings and tell some interesting funny stories. You don't feel like you are on some important business meeting but relaxed talk with your friends.

Janja - When I first applied for TCN, I wasn't aware where exactly this journey will lead me. I'm not sure even now, but I am enjoying the path. I love the opportunities which TCN is continuously giving to us. I like the freedom of choosing my own articles and also seeing that Paul is encouraging us to do so. One of the brilliant things is how easy you can reach the person you want to talk to or go to an event you want to cover. Also, a relaxed atmosphere, quality humor, and understanding people are wonderful things to have around. It is a pretty rare thing to find, especially in a working environment. We are just a few months into this internship and have already had so many positive experiences, so I am very happy. 

Paula - Working for the TCN this past three months has opened my eyes about journalism more than my Faculty has in almost 2 years. Working with real deadlines, writing what interests me and constant input from Paul on how to become even better are just some of the things I am grateful for. I would definitely highlight being published in London political portal 'The Article' as one of the best things that have happened in my work thus far. Thank you once again to both Paul and Krešimir Macan. In addition, even though we only just started, I can see that working with Gustavo and Andreas will push me even further out of my comfort zone. What this internship taught me is that it's worth getting up to attend a lecture at 9am. You never know what amazing opportunities might be thrown at you.

TCN is looking to expand its internship programme, as well begin an Instagram video programme with training. If you are interested in applying, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Intern. For the Instagram programme, you can be anywhere in Croatia and not necessarily a student. 

November 19, 2019 - Total Croatia News is delighted to announce an internship programme with the Faculty of Political Science & Journalism of the University of Zagreb. Meet the TCN interns!

The TCN inbox is never dull, and with our policy of flexibility and going with the flow, the inbox often leads us into some unplanned and very unchartered waters. 

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation from Professor Gaj Tomas from the University of Zagreb to give a lecture to his second-year journalism students about the realities of running a news portal in Croatia today. It was not something I had ever planned to do, but I appreciated the invitation and interest, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Some kind of partnership with the university would make sense, and perhaps we could even organise a programme for some TCN interns. 

Many thanks to Luka Solta for filming the lecture (for any interested students who could not make the very early 9 am start) can see the lecture in full in the two YouTube videos below. At the end, I discussed the internship concept and invited any interested students to contact me if they were interested. It had been an interesting experience for me, and I headed off to Hvar to help pick the family olives without really expecting to hear from any of the students again. 

But then I did, the next day. One of the students who attended wrote a very sweet email of thanks and registering interest in the programme. And then another. And then another. Three TCN interns! Now I would have to come up with a concrete programme for them... 

I met with Janja, Paula and Ana recently in a Zagreb cafe to get to know their interests and what they wanted to get out of the internship. For my part, one of the benefits of the internship for TCN is that it brings us closer to the Gen Z generation and allows us to explore different forms of media. I am grateful to PR guru Kresimir Macan who has agreed to lend his expertise to the internship programme for our political student, as well as very favourable feedback from a number of Croatian businesses where I think our internship initiative can bring mutual benefit.

Our TCN interns will be doing a variety of tasks with TCN mentoring, including writing their own standalone articles, making short videos around Zagreb, and doing various research projects. We will publish the first of their articles tomorrow. If your business is interested in supporting our intern initiative, please contact me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can see how the relationship can develop. 

In the meantime, meet the new TCN interns, in their own words. A little about them, why they are studying journalism, and what they hope to get from the programme. 

Meet the TCN Interns: Janja Šestak

Hello there, my name is Janja Šestak and I am from a small village named Seketin (near a former capital city of Croatia, can you guess? But no pressure). 

My hobbies include archery (I hold several state records), reenactments (more or less), singing (not saying I'm good, I just love to sing) and soon playing the guitar (God, help my roommates). I love to hike, being in nature, going around castles and fortresses (ex wanna-be-knight, who would say).  I love sport and I love to think I'm good at it.  Also, I was part of the movie and the professional theatre play (HNK Varaždin) and in both held the main role, nothing special. I love to write and I think I am creative, sometimes. Oh yes, I love eating. Seriously, I love food.

Why I have chosen journalism? Well, at first, I was interested in criminalistics because I naively think I can rid Croatia of the bribery and corruption disease which is spreading. Not only that, but there is also more of this, of course.  After that, I was thinking about being a military pilot because I don't plan to have a boring life. Here I am now, a student of journalism who is going to bed around 10 p.m. on Saturday. 

However, I still think I can fix a part of Croatia. Even a small one, it doesn't matter. I would love to be the reason that someone is smiling again. I would love to be someone who encourages others to do great things. I am a huge fan of what the team Provjereno is doing, but I don't want to be next Ivana Paradžiković, I want to be the first Janja Šestak. 

My biggest flaw: hastiness. My biggest advantage: adaptability. Now something that is a flaw and an advantage in one, I try to see good in every situation and person. I like to think every person has something good in her. In general, my problem is I'm interested in a lot of things which is hard sometimes because I really don't know how to compress all of them in one and called it a job one day.

Lastly, I don't take things for granted. I give my best for things or people that matter to me. All in. Yeah, that kind of would be my motto. If you're doing things superficially or by force, seriously, don't do it. 

Link of a trailer of the theatre play.

Meet the TCN Interns: Paula Anić

My name is Paula Anić and I'm a 2nd-year student of journalism at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb. I am 20 years old and live with my parents and sister in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia.

Ever since I can remember I have been interested in writing. At first, those were short stories that I would read only to my younger sister because I was afraid to show them to anyone else. With years, my passion for writing grew, and with it came the passion for history. That in particular, I can thank my high school professor, an amazing woman who made me fall in love with history by talking about it with an immense passion. Once I entered the magical world of kings, queens, battles, and wars I also started reading a lot. During my high school days, I become known as a girl that always has a book in her arms and that hasn't changed till today. No matter how many people are there in a tram or a bus, I can always be seen reading some of my favorite novels. 

A little while later, I started being interested in politics and that is my biggest passion at the moment. Next year's goals include enrolling in Faculty for political science and studying it together with journalism. Some of the long term goals include perhaps one day working in diplomacy/foreign relations or being a member of the European Parliament. 

That is where I come to explain why I want to work with TCN. For once, it is an unbiased news portal that gives its journalists great freedom in writing about topics of their own choice and it is based on promoting positive news rather than filling its readers with negative ones all the time. It sounds like a dream come true for anyone who wants to do this job. The other thing is the fact that my college focuses mainly on building our theoretical knowledge and very little on practical training which I think is crucial for every aspiring journalist. I see great potential for growth as a writer, especially in English by working with Paul and TCN. 

Some of my other, still developing skills and hobbies include learning about film theory and learning French, both of which I have started doing during this academic year and have fallen in love with. In my free time, that is while I'm not reading some new and exciting book, I am volunteering in two organizations; AIESEC which focuses on building relations with foreign countries (my job includes explaining people from Croatia what kind of benefit they can get from volunteering all across the globe) and eStudent where I am part of PR and Event Management team. I only just started the later, but I am were excited and eager to learn all about it and work on promising new projects regarding students. I see myself as a capable and positively stubborn person who, once it starts something, doesn't stop until the job is done.

Meet the TCN Interns: Ana Samodol

My name is Ana Samodol, I come from Šibenik and I am a second-year student of journalisam at the Faculty of Political Science. What I see as passion in my future job is investigating interesting and less common stories about people, what kind of life they have and if they unfortunately had any obstacles in their lives. Also I like reading about travelling, mainly where to travel, what to see, what monuments can be visited, and what can you do in that town. Furthermore I like reading about other cultures, their foods, drinks and their customs. I am very fascinated by Turkish food and their culture, mostly by their beautiful towns, monuments and natural sights.

I also like reading lifestyle articles, sometimes even sports and the most important news from politics and business. Sometimes that type of news might seem a bit boring, but I have to keep up with things that are happening in Croatia and all over the world. I like to share reading interests with students my age. These are the reasons why I would write about things to do in Zagreb or Croatia, where to hang out with your friends, how to study and enjoy in student life. As I said over the coffee, I love watching TV shows and films. My favourite TV shows are sitcoms, I love watching them because they make me feel better and I forget about my problems. I also love listening to older hits from previous century; 80s, 70s, 90s and 2000 music. In my opinion, music from that era was far better than this one today. Unfortunately I can't listen to this type of music on Radio Student where I volunteer, where I write and read the news.

I want to be a journalist because I am interested in radio and television journalisam. Apart from those things I would also like to write about interesting stories of people, travelling and culture of other countries. I applied for an internship at Total Croatia News because I want to expand my knowledge in journalism and collect knowledge and ideas from other journalists. Also I would like to learn more about Croatian culture in which I am not familiar with. Apart from expanding my knowledge in journalism, I want to improve my personal, communicating and writing skills.

Thank you, Ladies, we look forward to working with you.