Archive
On February, 11-13th in Saariselkä (Finland) the next session of the Barents Press International Board took place.
15 journalists from North West Russia got the experience of what this Norwegian- Russian combination of words means. Five days of cultural, political and business events influenced a lot on our understanding of life in the neighbor country. Debate with Norwegian colleagues has inspired us for a new approach of the journalists role in the society.
Study visit for Russian journalists to Norway was supported by the Norwegian Barents secretariat and NJC –Update.
15 journalists from different TV-companies, newspapers and magazines in Northwest-Russia were last week invited to visit Norwegian border guard installations along the border.
This was the first time Russian media was allowed to see how the border is being protected from the Norwegian side.
See more pictures from the journalists' visit to the border guard station
The Sundance Documentary Film Program is currently accepting applications for the Spring 2011 funding cycle. Grants will be announced in July 2011. Next Postmark Deadline: February 9, 2011.
The brief (3-4 minutes) “Special Angle” weekly review hosted on the Militseiskaya Volna (Police Wave) radio station in Petrozavodsk by journalist Valery Potashov since July 2010 used to highlight the most significant facts of the past week, commenting on every event that caused broad public repercussions. Now the program is closed.
'Scoop Russia' invites to participate in competition for journalists in Northwest Russia and calls for ideas for in-depth-journalism. For those who have an idea to do investigative journalism this competition gives a chance to realize one's journalistic dream.
The book "Pyhät da arret. Karjalaine rahvahankalendari" ("Holidays and everyday life. Karelian national calendar") has been published in Petrozavodsk. The authors of the new edition are Olga Ogneva, journalist of State TV/Radio Company "Karelia" and Alexey Konkka, research assistant of the Institute of language, literature and history of the Karelian Centre of science of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
TV-21 from Murmansk and Norwegian company Medvind Media AS have started a unique joint project-serial. During the year young people from different countries are taught to sail in a folk school Malanger in Troms county. The presentation of the project took place in Murmansk.
Glasnost Defense Foundation has published data about the fixed conflicts connected with journalists and mass-media in Russia in 2010. The analysis of the facts shows: «the last year hasn't brought appreciable improvements or deterioration in position of Russian mass media and journalists - it practically hasn't changed» (GDF). We give here the review of the data with sample of the facts about mass-media of the Northwest of Russia.
The Swedish Government grants 37 million SEK (€4 million) to support democratic movements, media, organizations and human rights work in Northwest Russia.
- said the students from the Barents region after the study-visit in Denmark. 16 English speaking journalism students from Northwest Russia were invited by the Nordic Journalism Centre (NJC) Update to spend a study week in Århus, the second biggest city in Denmark.
As a result of reforms which will occur in the Karelian publishing house «Periodika» since January, 2011 the magazine for children «Kipinä» ("Sparkle") will be puplished not only in Finnish, but also in Vepsan and two dialects of the Karelian language. Russian-speaking children and teenagers of Karelia may lose a similar edition financed from the budget.
Finnish journalist Airi Leppänen (freelance) and young journalist Sylvia Bjon (newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet) have been rewarded by a grant for high achievements in journalism and a medal “Sword of Freedom of Speech” by Finnish Journalist Union.
Ceremony of rewarding winners of III International competition of young journalists «XXI Century. Time and We» took place in Petrozavodsk. It's established by Children's School of Arts, culture department of Petrozavodsk city administration Karelian friendship society "Karelia — Norway".
“Queen Sonja of Norway will open the 2011 Barents Spektakel festival in Kirkenes”, informs BarentsObserver.com. Twelve Russian journalist invited to the festival by the Norwegian Barents secretariat and Nordic Journalist Center will probably see Her Majesty.
On December, 3rd in Petrozavodsk their took place a journalistic seminar-webinar on legal assistance problems, first of all how journalists can protect and do protect the right to professional work.
From 2 to 6 February 2011 in Kirkenes there will be held a traditional festival - Barents Spektakel mixture of modern art, theater, literature, cinema, music, politics and business. The permanent organizer is the Norwegian art-center Pikene på broen http://pikene.no/projects/barents-spektakel//. Journalists from Barents Russia were invited for all seven festivals. We will be possibly invited this year too.
Winners of the prizes of the third International festival of documentary films and television programs are announced. Swedish filmmaker Gunilla Bresky got the Grand Prix of the festival for the second time. Among the winners BPI active members: Alexander Pivkin (Komi TV) and Morten Ruud (NRK Finnmark-Troms).
In November 2009 there was announced a competition within the Joint Programme «Minorities in Russia: developing languages, culture, media and civil society” with financial support of the Council of Europe. 314 applications were sent to the competition, and 282 were admitted including the one from the State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company “Murman”.
On November 16th in Murmansk a festive opening of the third International festival of documentary films and television programs took place. More than seventy journalists, documentary professionals and producers from five countries came to Murmansk. Members of International jury headed by Bernt Viklund, a prominent Swedish journalist and producer, has watched 75 documentary and story films, television programmes and short reports.
In Levy (Finland) on 30 October there took place a regular board meeting of Barents Press International. The crucial point was: the annual meeting of Barents Press International in 2011.
Thirty years old Oleg Kashin, correspondent of Russian daily Kommersant , was severely beaten on the night of Nov. 6 by two unknown persons. Journalist with fractures of the jaw, a broken fingers and a broken leg was taken to hospital where he several operations. Condition Oleg Kashin is still grave. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior Ministry to take over the investigation into a special control.
On November, 3rd the editor of the newspaper "Licey" Natalia Meshkova and the correspondent of the same edition Anastasia Ermashova received the prevention about the labor contract being broken off. "Licey" is done by two of them so all journalists are dismissed. There's no notice about the newspaper beingclosed.
This year’s world index from the organization Reporters Without Borders shows that Russia remains unable to improve its bad record on press freedom.
On October, 11-16th the Nordic Centre of Journalism and association Barents Press held a seminar «Multimedia journalism». 14 editors of Internet sites from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk areas, Karelia and St.-Petersburg took part in an educational trip, having visited editions of large media holdings in the capital of Norway Oslo and the cities of Aalborg and Århus in Denmark.
In the educational centre of journalism Update in Århus twee were told much new and all questions were willingly answered. We also had a chance to try roles of multimedia journalists. Each of three teams in the became an editorial collective of a certain edition — business, public and tabloid.
The new head of Karelia Andrey Nelidov gets acquainted with the situation travelling round the republic. He is usually accompanied by a TV group from the administration's press service.
Acceptance of applications for participation in the Third International Festival of TV programs and films Northern Character has completed.
The event is organised by TV-21 broadcasting company with support of the international association of journalists Barents Press, "Norilsk nickel" Company, "Media platform" Company, Norwegian Barents-secretariat, "Companion" Company and park-in hotel "Polyarnie Zori".
The Union of Journalists of Karelia starts a long-term project: to create Alley of Journalists in Petrozavodsk rest park on the quay of the Onega lake. All mass-media of Karelia and all journalists are invited to participate in planting trees.
In September there was held the fifth media school for members of public organizations of Sortavala area (Karelia) within the limits of the Russian-Finnish project "NGO and mass-media".
On 16 November the III International festival of documentary films and TV-programs Northern Character to be opened in Murmansk. In the context of the festival there will be a competitive demonstration of the films, telling us how the persons’ character is revealed in the severe conditions of the North.
For many years there have been talks on trying to find some financing mechanism to help journalist cooperation in the Barents Region. Now these talks are moving closer to reality.
FM-channels Big Radio from Murmansk and Radio Domen from Vardø signed a cooperation’s agreement. Barents Press has helped them to establish the contacts. Now we are named as a project facilitator.
Torvald Stoltenberg witnessed the cooperation’s agreement.
State support is necessarily required for development of the national press in Karelia. The future of the publishing house "Periodica" and republican mass-media in native languages huas ben under discussion for more than a month.
The Qualifying Collegium of Karelia’s Supreme Court has sanctioned a judge for interfering with a reporter’s work. Last March, Judge E. Stepanova broke the law by ousting a journalist from the courtroom for using a tape recorder, and by requiring him to erase the recording.
In the north of Karelia cross-border relations of Louhsky area and Finnish sister-community of Kuusamo are well developed. It is promoted by the international customs check point of Suoperä. Journalists on either side of the border can meet and work together.
In June Petrozavods for the 4-th time bacame the place to hold a media school for youth NGO members. 25 of them participated in it within the Russian-Finnish project «NGO and Media».
Nadezda Sarsakova, correspondent of the paper «Territoria zakona» (Murmansk), addressed Barents Press Web-site with a letter about facts of counteraction to her journalistic work. We publish fragments of the letter and commentary by Murmansk Union of Journalists board member Svetlana Soldatova.
Eight representatives of Russian mass-media from Murmansk area and Karelia with huge enthusiasm took training in newspapers, TV and radio of Northern Norway.
A round table in Arkhangelsk, co-sponsored by the regional N. Dobrolyubov Science Literature Library and Russian State Press University, has discussed the issue of public trust of the media.
Journalists from across Europe and the United States are invited to apply for the European Journalism- Fellowships, offered by the International Center for Journalism at Freie Universität Berlin.
Every year Karelian journalists honor their best-performing colleagues by giving them various prestigious awards. Also, they name the high-ranking government officials hampering the media's work.
Barents Press Annual Conference in Bodø agaim had Youth Chat as a parallel session on its program. Ekaterina Gabalove, student of Petrozavodsk University shares her im pressions and ideas.
It happened so that only Karelian delegation was presenting Russian journalists at the Annual Barents Press Conference in Bodø (Norway).
The Iceland volcano played a bad trick with our colleagues from Murmansk and Archamgelsk. So we felt special responsibility as many items under discussio were about the stituation in Russian journalism.
Due to the Icelandic volcano eruption the delegations from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions failed to arrive to the 16 annual conference of BPI in Bodø but all were satisfied with their short meeting.
Barents Press 16 annual meeting in Bodø is open. Robert Sandström, Board Chairman, Barents Press International, and Arne Egil Tønset, Board Chairman, Barents Press Norway, opened the meeting with a short speech.
For the first time we have an annual meeting without Jelena Larionova, Chairman BP Russia and project coordinator of BPI .Nine journalists from Barents Russia participated in study visit to Norway within a programme “Oil and gas industry development. Norwegian - Russian cooperation.”
The journalists visited many industrial objects, parliament, MFA, municipalities in Hammerfest, Stavanger and Oslo. They also met with the colleagues in different Norwegian newsrooms. Journalists Olga Karpenko from “Dvazhdy Dva” newspaper, Murmansk region, Apatity and Maria Romanova from “Severny rabochy”, Arkhangelsk region, Severodvinsk share their impressions:
– I came home “updated”.
Deliberations on a new joint Nordic television channel have recently attracted a lot of attention in the Nordic countries. The Nordic Council's Culture and Education Committee will now proceed with the idea of a new television channel for Nordic viewers.
We tried to answer to this question from the Russian and Swedish points of view at the forum “Freedom, security and justice – the common interests of the Baltic sea region”.
The conflict between the mayor of Murmansk and the editor of "Vecherka" has not received judicial continuation. Investigatory management has not found in Natalia Chervjakova's statements about attempts to use censorship anything reprehensible.
Kjersti Lien, Beth Mørch Pettersen, Ida Kroksæter from Norway made a study of present situation in Russian mass media with the focus on press freedom issues. The article is devided in two parts and the first one is presented here.
“Censorship does not take place and never did.This is a political provocation! ''- Said the mayor of Murmansk Sergey Subbotin on a specially assembled today's press conference on the situation around the city newspaper Vecherny Murmansk.
In the congress hotel jf the Meridian hotel in Murmansk there has been heled a special press conference with the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Vecherny Murmansk Natalia Chervjakova. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper of which founder is the Murmansk city administration, has accused mayor Sergey Subbotin of pressure upon mass-media and censorship.
Delegation of staff and volunteers of Radio Domen from Vardø visited Murmansk. They met with colleagues from the Big Radio and discussed plans for cooperation.
The technicians of Finnish public broadcasting company YLE have begun a strike which will last till Friday. Today on Monday April, 6 at ten o'clock in the morning the maintenance service personnel has left workplaces in Vaasa, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Turku and Juväskylä.
Such question about the essence of a documentary film was set by the known Russian documentary film maker Alexander Gutman to the participants of a seminar in Murmansk. In the beginning of March there was held a training course «Documentary film. The way it's done» in which journalists, TV producers, cameramen and sound producers from Murmansk, Archangelsk areas and Karelia participated.
