Slovenia’s Mojca is best known for the documentary series Čez planke about people and places in the world, which she has been preparing on Television Slovenia since 2001. She also tackles more complex topics, from human rights to environmental issues, and strives to bring them closer to people.
Mojca is fluent in seven languages and is a versatile presenter of various television programs, from news programs to entertainment, with appearances on BBC WORLD, ORF and RAI.
Between 1997 and 2001, she hosted the pre-selections of the Eurovision tune and commented for TV Slovenia on the selections in Kiev, Athens and Helsinki.
Since 2011 she has been a regular contributor to the show Dobro jutro. In 2019, she joined the show about Slovenian tourism, NA LEPŠE. Since 2016, within the Accessibility Program on TV Slovenia, it has also been operating as an audio descriptor for people with visual impairments.
In recent years, it has focused on eco-travel and an ethical lifestyle. She likes to report on topics that are overheard in the media too often. She was the co-author and host of the series EKOUTRINKI, the first program on ecology on TV Slovenia.
In 2012, she was one of the recognizable faces of the Clean Slovenia campaign, a volunteer project in which municipal waste was cleaned from illegal landfills. In the same year, she started participating in the VILLAGE FOLK series, which promotes sustainable farming with good practices from around the world.
Mojca is also the host of events in Slovene, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Russian and French. Its regular clients are L’Oreal, BMW, the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce, the Manager Association, etc. She is the face of media campaigns for Samsung, L’Occitane, Le Manege a bijoux, Sportina group and Berlitz.
She also regularly lends his voice to radio and television commercials.
Please tell us about your early life, impacts and influences of your environment.
I was born in another time and place I live in today. Yugoslavia was a socialist country under an undemocratic regime but the environment I grew up in was much more diverse and multicultural than today’s Slovenia. I remember having friends from different backgrounds and cultures, Slovenian, Serbian, Bosnian. Yugoslavia was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement so we had lots of people from Africa, India or the Middle East studying at our universities. Today my country is Slovenia, a one nation state with two million people . We are celebrating 30 years of independence this year and holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
What prompted you to pursue a career in media?
Maybe this was my own little teenage rebellion in a family full of successful engineers and economists. I secretly auditioned for a popular tv show and got my first job at 19, my parents had no idea.
What challenges have you had to overcome in your career?
Even though Slovenian women outperform men in education and we don’t have issues with equal pay as other Western countries, it is still different and more difficult to be a woman in the media. You definitely have to work more and harder than men to be taken seriously. And some fields are still male dominated in Slovenian media, especially sports. It’s great to see women presenting and commentating on big sports events on German or Spanish tv. In Slovenia it is still less common. I remember all the eye rolling and critics when I co-hosted the Fifa World Championships for the very first time. This is changing now, but it took us a couple of championships like that to be accepted.
What did you learn about yourself during and after the challenge?
Never quit. And never hurry. Some things take time and I was really lucky with my editors. I really started young but they encouraged me to do things on my own, writing my own scripts, learning all the different crafts behind the scenes, not just on camera. Today I am filming and producing a lot of my programmes myself which is really liberating and inspiring.
In your opinion has the #metoo movement made much impact within the media ecosystem?
In Slovenia not at all so far. We had basically no stories of survivors except one actress, but there are no powerful men losing jobs, there is no real public debate. It is still a taboo really. Sexual harassment and misconduct remain a systematic problem throughout the world but it’s gaining more attention, some countries have already expanded its sexual harrasment law and it has definetly been changing how we think about power in society.
How can women use the media more to tell Her story?
Supporting each other. Sometimes you still feel isolated when you start a debate. And I truly believe in the impact of social media, just look how much #metoo has done so far. More women are having a platform to express themselves, being empowered with help of social media.
What have been your proudest moments in your career?
My own travel show on TV Slovenia, producing the first tv programme about organic farming and sustainability in Slovenia and well, co-hosting the Football world cup twice.
What’s next for Mojca?
Producing online programmes for kids in schools. Especially grammar lessons. A true challenge. But that’s why I really love my job. It always makes me think outside the box.
