As new media technologies continue to proliferate, Russian media outlets have a growing need for skilled editorial staff who can utilize these new media tools and understand how they can be integrated into the traditional newsroom. This in turn has led to a rising interest in educational programs on multimedia journalism. Yet only a few universities in Russia have the resources to launch such programs.
With support from the IREX International Media Partnerships Program [7], the University for the Humanities of Yekaterinburg (UHY [8]) has become a pioneer in this field. In 2009, it launched an accredited bachelor’s degree program on convergent media journalism, with the assistance from a partnership with the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California [9] and the Los Angeles Times. While the launching of the program helped answer the growing need for skilled media professionals, one program is not enough for the booming Russian new media market.
To answer the call, and with additional IREX assistance, UHY launched a website, newjourn.com [10] in August 2010 for online consultations on new media and convergent journalism issues for students, professors and a wide range of experts working in media and communications. With articles, collaborative pieces, and online forums, the site expands the geographic reach of the UHY program and creates a consulting network connecting Russian students with both local and foreign media experts in new media and convergent journalism.
Student authors participated in a series of seminars, “How a Convergent Newsroom Works,” developed by UHY in partnership with the Annenberg School. According to Eugene Rychkov, a journalism student at UHY, “This site gives students an incredible opportunity to be noticed among professionals in the same field and it gives access experts not possible anywhere else. This is a real forum that can be used as a trial and error system where your work will be judged by a great number of professionals. It is a chance to experiment with the audience, present your ideas in different formats and learn what works best. ”
UHY’s faculty expects that in the long run this on-line collaboration will contribute to the formation of social network that convenes the most advanced thinkers in the area of new media, interested undergraduate, graduate and PhD students, as well as professors teaching new media in the US and in Russia.
The International Media Partnerships Program is implemented by IREX under a Cooperative Agreement with the US Agency for International Development [11].