In the nearly 20 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, numerous Russian media outlets have become dynamic multimedia organizations, while others have struggled with how to incorporate new technologies. To assist Russian media in this transition, three IREX partners – Press Development Institute-Siberia (PDI) [6], the University of the Humanities in Yekaterinburg (UHY) [7] and the Fund for Regional Press Support (FRPS) [8] are each developing training programs with partner organizations in the United States for Russian media organizations interested in better incorporating new media technologies into their operations. The partnerships developed out of IREX’s USAID-funded International Media Partnerships Program (IMPP) [9].
PDI has worked with numerous international experts in the field of multimedia to host the seminar “20 Years After: From free Speech to New Media,” this past December. More than 50 editors, reporters, online project managers, and journalism teachers from the Urals and Southern Siberia regions participated in discussions about the basics of online journalism and innovative techniques for using the Web.
UHY partnered with the University of Southern California to develop a successful new training program to help media organizations become more effective multimedia users. Michael Parks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former editor of the Los Angeles Times, worked with UHY faculty to develop a training program for Siberian media managers. The program, “How a Convergence Newsroom Works,” is offered to mid-career professionals. The curriculum has also been provided to other local universities.
FRPS launched a contest for the best print media website. More than 20 outlets in Siberia and the Russian Far East are participating. The winners will visit newspapers in the United States to learn how their American colleagues are effectively using the internet and will later share those lessons with Russian colleagues via seminars FRPS will help arrange. FRPS worked with a number of American news associations to understand how they can better serve their members.
Galina Komornikova, director of the Bukvitsa publishing house in Berdsk said the move toward online publishing has played an important role in positioning independent media as legitimate journalists.
“Convergence made us merge our newspaper and our website,” Komonikova said. “And the website has already taken (priority). The main advantage of the website is we do not have deadlines; now we tell the news when it appears. In my opinion journalists are all those people who participate in the creation of content. We see our victory in the fact that government officials respond to the questions of (citizen) journalists. These officials begin their morning by reading our website and learning about real opinions of real people. It is wonderful.”
IMPP is a three-year USAID-funded program that fosters the growth of a diverse range of professional organizations and institutions to support Russia’s media sector through tailored collaborations with their counterparts in the United States and Europe. Through IMPP, IREX helps Russian media industry organizations tackle challenges they face in governance, management, financing, membership, service provision, lobbying, and networking.