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.”