The Changing Model of Russian Media and Journalism Education

Abstract

In Soviet period (1917-1991), journalists in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were trained for one purpose-to serve State. Under Soviet theory of press, media was an arm of state, never to question, always to promote. As controls over press have eased since 1990, journalism training has changed as well. Courses in Communist Party history and ideology, and criticism of Western journalism, have disappeared. Practical courses have been added, and courses such as investigative reporting have appeared, often taught by U.S. journalism educators. Journalists from United States and Western countries have trained Russian journalists throughout transition period since 1991. Each country offering training has a different model of journalism education and a different media system, and variety of approaches have led to a certain amount of competition, and thus, tension. There has been an enormous amount of funding available in United States for developing Russian journalism with a stated view of promoting democracy. American professors and journalists have been enthusiastically sharing their model of journalism education-and form of media-with Russians. There has also been funding from governments for media training in Russia, and result is a proxy war for hearts and minds of Russian journalists and journalism students. As Yassen Zassoursky, dean of Moscow University School of Journalism and head of Union of Russian Journalism Schools, stated at an international symposium on Russian Media in Transition in Stirling, Scotland in February 1996, the Third World was a battleground for new ideas during colonization; Russia is now. All countries think their model of media is bestGermany, France, United Kingdom, and, most insistent, United States. Russia is a country in flux, with something of a vacuum created by departure of Communist Party. There are democratic forces, there are Nationalistic forces, and there are Communist influences at work, and some uncertainty as to where country is heading. Into this vacuum has jumped vested international interests which see great potential in creating future markets. Will Russia become a capitalist democracy? A socialist democracy? A bit of both? What kind of mass media system will emerge from this period of transition? What will overall political economy of media be, and how will journalists be educated? The answers are far from clear at this point in history. In this article, I focus on past and current Russian journalism models (and suggest that we examine latter model carefully), European model, which might be more appropriate to Russian cultural and historical circumstances, and U.S. model.1 The three models are examined for purposes of comparison, and questions are raised about suitability of U.S. model because of its structure and content. Conversely, there are aspects in Russian and models that might be considered for adoption by U.S. journalism educators. The paper concludes by critiquing commercialism of U.S. system of media being promoted in Russia and Eastern Europe by U.S. Government and private foundations, and questions its appropriateness for export to Russia. Russian journalism education A brief history of how Russia educated its journalists in Communist era is in order because it resulted in system of journalism education-mostly still in place-designed for a media system which was based on criminal sanctions against denigration of state and communist system, on fear promotion by KGB police; on a policy of tolerating no dissent from Party line, on loyalty over competence, and on a formal censorship agency (Daniloff, 1993, p. 215). Between 1917 and 1991, journalists were either university graduates who eventually went into a writing career, or high school graduates who joined newspapers and worked their way up. …