U.S.-Russian Young Journalist Exchange

January 17, 2013

American journalists on one of their last nights in Moscow. From left, R. M. Handy, A. Nikolchev, A. Ambrose, O. Belogolova, A. Brittain, L. Johnson, V. Ravich, J. Hammond, V. Yurkevich, A. Sharockman, and P. de Revere. Photo: M. Scott Brauer.

Twenty-four young American and Russian journalists participated in a four-week U.S.-Russian Young Media Professionals Exchange Program that placed them in news organizations in Moscow and around the U.S., respectively.

The exchange program was made possible by the generous support of the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation, the Moscow Union of Journalists, and the International Center for Journalists. Throughout the November 26 to December 20 Exchange program, participants blogged about their experiences and maintained a Facebook page, which they will continue after returning home. Before returning to their home countries, the Russian and U.S. participants met via a digital video conference (DVC) between Washington D.C. and Moscow to trade impressions about their experiences. Some observations from the Russian journalists included a comment on the coverage of local news in the U.S. by a participant who was placed at the Miami Herald: “I’m really a little bit jealous [of] your community [and community news coverage] culture, which we don’t have in Russia, unfortunately. Maybe this is one of the reasons why our civil society is not so developed yet.” Another Russian journalist reported on a local football game for the Seattle Times; his article later went viral and was even covered by the Washington Post.

The Exchange program is a product of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission (BPC) Sub-Working Group on Mass Media, co-chaired by IIP Coordinator Dawn McCall and TASS Director General Mikhail Gusman.