Press Release
Yegor Kiselyov Thanks the Paul Klebnikov Fund for Journalism Fellowship
October 2008
The bureau sent into Georgia several of its correspondents; accordingly work multiplied for the interns. Every day I went to the press-conference where the deputy head of the Command Headquarters of the Defense forces of the Russian Federation A.A. Nogovitsyn participated, compiled essential information from the internet for journalists, translated commentary from the NYT Russia Blog for American readers. I also fulfilled the functions of an assistant at the bureau.
The preceding military action of the last month was of great interest, as I directly assisted journalists in creating materials, took part in interviews, witnessed how journalists conducted themselves, selected information, wrote articles. Especially of interest was the work on a topic not known to Americans - a phenomenon of "thieves of law" (or made men; mafia bosses.) Work for the above article by Michael Schwartz took about three weeks, there were many experts who were questioned in this area. I recommended and set up a phone interview with the writer and journalist Andrei Konstantinov, who has uncovered much new information related to this subject. The article came out quite interesting.
Work on similar material; that is when one writes about that which is unfamiliar to readers, I think is very useful. For Russian readers it is difficult to open unfamiliar subjects, and often domestic journalists in a rush to provide coverage, miss simple but often very important details. Occasionally, they miss the main aspects or emphasize points incorrectly. Americans write very simply (they simply don’t have a reason to exaggerate reporting, otherwise readers, from the outset encountering new phenomenon, will not understand anything.) I think that this particular knowledge is quite beneficially to my work with Russian-language media. At one point I was even able to publish a short article in New York. You can read it on the New York Times website.
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Russia: Leagues Under the Lake
by Yegor Kiselyov
Two small submarines reached the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia on Tuesday, organizers of the expedition said. The vessels, one of which is shown above, descended more than 5,000 feet below the surface of the lake, which is the world's deepest freshwater body and contains one-fifth of the world's fresh water. Russian scientists said they hoped to find new life forms in the previously unexplored depths, document the effects of global warming and draw attention to the need for more environmental protection.
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Now the bureau is attentively studying how Russian television and newspapers present information. At the same time, not a small amount of attention is dedicated to the internet, where the emphasis at times and the very summary of materials on the war, in no way corresponds with that which is see or read by average Russians. Simply stated, an information war is being conducted. I cannot say which side is conducting itself more fairly. Some time needs to pass to review every aspect thoroughly once more, to re-read some materials, to be able to say something conclusively. My opinion is such that I am not confident that that all western press presents information objectively. But I can note that I very much like the position of the New York Times, which presents a quite reserved tone in its work, quite painstaking, and almost Herculean effort with respect to every fact.
On one hand, it was very sad to leave such an interesting, kind, unconventional and talented group of journalists. On the other hand, I feel that I was very lucky to have had this opportunity, improved my English, and gained an invaluable experience in working with foreign journalists; one which I am impatient to apply to my work in the local press.
A huge thank you to you and all of those who made this wonderful internship in an American news bureau possible.
Sincerely,
Yegor Kiselyov
