By Vestnik Kavkaza
The fourth Georgian-Russian Media Forum starts its work on October 15th. Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed one of initiators of the project, the Executive Director of the political scientific center “Sever-Yug,” Yulia Yakusheva, on the goals and tasks of the event.
- Who is included in the Russian team of journalists and experts who are going to the Georgian capital this year?
- One of the main differences of the Forum 2014 is the involvement of speakers not only from Russia, but also from foreign countries. Ukraine is presented by one of the leading sociologists of the country – Yevgeny Kopatko. We also expect that Azerbaijani journalists will participate in the event. We will discuss topics which are acute not only for Russia and Georgia. It is a part of global media themes.
As for Russian experts, this time we have managed to gather distinguished speakers. Matthew Alexeyev, the Director of the Foreign Communications Service of Rambler, will present training titled “Evolution of the Mass Media – information + content.” Yelena Davydova, the head of the Directorate of Russia Today State Projects, will conduct training titled “Writing Material: Secrets of Working with Information Sources.” The title of a speech by Marina Ahmedova, a representative of Russian Reporter, causes great interest even now – "Ukraine: On Both Sides of the Conflict".
Yaroslav Skvortsov, the Dean of the Journalism Department of MGIMO, will hold training titled “Social Networks and Civic Journalism.” Maxim Shevchenko is well known in the South Caucasus, he is the editor-in-chief of Kavkazskaya Politica. He will speak on the second day of our forum. And finally, the famous documentary director Roman Gazenko will conclude the event. We understand that two days are not enough for such a large amount of material, but we will do our best. The experience of previous forums shows that traditional Georgian hospitality is a great help in this sense.
Moreover, we will hold a round-table discussion “Media in the Context of Global Crises”, in which leading Georgian journalists and experts will take part. Furthermore, we expect a presentation of a Russian-Georgian project: several TV-shows “If you are my brother…” As you can see, the schedule is intensive, I hope we will fulfil all the plans.
- Last year it was said that one of the goals of such an event was making professional communication regular without being restricted by one-day events, and extension of spheres for cooperation between journalists from Russia and the South Caucasus. Could you fulfil this task? Can you say this goal has been achieved?
- Yes, we discussed it at the meeting in Tbilisi last year. There are obvious positive shifts. For example, last year young journalists from the South Caucasus, participants in a creative contest, were issued the right to participate in the Journalism School which took place in Sochi. Participants of the trip expressed their positive impressions. Regular contacts between young authors were built. 10-15 journalists of the region communicate with us, they publish materials in leading Russian mass media and comment on each other. This is a result of our practical work. I would like to thank our colleagues from Vestnik Kavkaza, who provide young journalists from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and other countries of the region, and the North Caucasus, with an opportunity to publish their articles.
This year we will continue the tradition and gather the most active participants of our media project in Moscow in late November.
