Journalists in Russia have their own set of challenges at home, but for a week in November a group of them focused on the many obstacles confronting the American media.

A study mission organized by NDI brought 14 print reporters and editors from Russian regional media to Washington, DC, and Chicago to meet with media experts, interact with practicing journalists and see some of the institutions that make up and support the U.S. media industry. While economic pressures play a role in any media market, the situation in the United States is more acute than in some other countries, including Russia, where many media organizations are effectively financed by the state.

One objective of the visit was to expose the Russian journalists to different financial models found in the U.S. media industry and the freedoms and limitations of each. The visitors met with journalists from traditional print model publications – The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune – and from those that use newer approaches – Politico and the Chicago Current, a news initiative launched by a Chicago journalist just a few weeks before the Russians arrived.

The group was also interested in the relationship between media and politics in the United States and heard different – and sometimes opposing – viewpoints on that relationship in meetings with congressional correspondents and press secretaries in Washington and Chicago.

Professors at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism spoke to the delegation about legal protections that exist for U.S. journalists and how some news organizations scrutinize their own coverage through the use of public editors or ombudsmen who look after readers’ interests.

One of the participants – a radio host from the rural province of Yaroslavl – said she learned a great deal and would return to Russia without a lot of stereotypes she had previously held about media in America.

The 14 participants were chosen by NDI and the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation (IDC), a Russian NGO based in New York.  NDI shared the costs of the trip with the IDC through funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Pictured above:The members of the Russian journalist delegation discuss politics and journalism with Steve Roberts, a professor, columnist, TV and radio analyst and best-selling author.

Published January 15, 2010