Russian journalists live the dream and visit CSU
CSU students and faculty got an insight into Russian journalism
Tuesday.
The Longmont Rotary Club, in conjunction with the Center for
Citizen Initiatives productivity enhancement program, made it
possible for 13 Russian journalists to visit the United States.
Ranging from an in-flight magazine owner to an editor in chief
of two weekly newspapers, the Russian journalists visited CSU to
exchange ideas and opinions about media systems with students and
staff.
The visiting journalists spoke through an interpreter to
students in an international mass communications class. The
development of Russian media following the fall of communism was a
common theme of the discussion.
“In the U.S. it took many years and decades and centuries to
develop the media,” said Viktor Staritsin, owner and director of a
publishing house in Russia. “In Russia, we had to compress into one
year what took 15 years in America.”
The journalists said there were only scarce traces of communism
left in Russia.
“I would rather state that we do not have communism anymore in
Russia,” Staritsin said. “What is left from communism here does not
impose.”
Sergey Gavrilov, director of a publishing house in Russia,
agreed.
“Fifteen years ago, all our media was owned by the government,”
Gavrilov said. “Today, media sources are independent legal
entities.”
This surprised some students.
“I was surprised that they didn’t really seem to have much of a
reaction about (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s influence on
the media,” said Kirsten Mundorff, a junior marketing student. “It
offered an insight and perspective that otherwise we would never be
exposed to.”
The visiting journalists were pleased to see a different
perspective as well. They asked students questions about their
future goals and the dynamics and the technology of U.S.
newsrooms.
Russian journalists said the media in the United States and
Russia are comparable.
“Russia is a huge country. We have different facets of media
presented,” Staritsin said. “The level of development of media in
both countries, based on my experience, is roughly the same.”
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