Americans and Russians Team Up to Support Independent Media

The Russian Union of Journalists and the University of Georgia’s Cox Center collaborated to organize three workshops in Russia that will focus on topics like media management and ethics.

“I really think that this is an important program,” Dr. Tudor Vlad, associate director for the Cox Center, said. “You know for so many years Russian journalists have been isolated and have seen themselves as isolated. This program is a beginning and an opening. . . This is how you can build bridges.”

Dr. Lee Becker, director of the Cox Center, and Dr. Vlad partnered with representatives from the Russian Union of Journalists to research the needs of Russian journalists and design the workshops.

The first workshop in Samara, Russia, will focus on media management and take place in June 2009. The second workshop, scheduled for early September, will take place in Siberia, and the third workshop will take place in November in a different region of Russia.

The executive director of the Russian Union of Journalists, Nadezha Azhikhina, chose to collaborate with the Cox Center after a visit to the University of Georgia last November. Azhikhina showed interest in the Cox Center’s resources and dedication to building partnerships, Dr. Vlad said.

The Russian Union of Journalists is the largest journalism union in Russia with over 100,000 members and is dedicated to fostering independent media and freedom of expression.

The International Research and Exchanges Board, an international non profit that supports programs dedicated to strengthening independent media, funded the project.