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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Leonid Gankin,
Director of the International Affairs and Public Rela-
tions Department, Skolkovo Foundation (Russia):
I have been lucky
enough to be one of the organizers and subsequently senior man-
agers of the international affairs section of Kommersant Daily,
one of the leading Russian newspapers. The section has been set-
ting new standards for international journalists, and I believe that
many will agree with me here, has made a tangible contribution
to the development of international journalism in Russia.
Kommersant is in many ways a singular phenomenon in Russian
journalism. The newspaper's founder and owner Vladimir
Yakovlev preferred experts in various fields to professional journalists, believing that it is
easier for expert to learn to write than for the journalist to get a profound knowledge in
some specific area. As a result, a lot of economists worked in the economic section, and
book, theater and movie critics - in the culture section.
I'm deeply convinced (and this has been confirmed by practice) that an international jour-
nalist should not only see far and wide, but should also be an expert in at least one country,
one region, he should know its language, culture, history, etc. And this, I believe, is a nec-
essary precondition for becoming a professional international journalist.
We worked really hard to introduce in international journalism what is called the "Russian
dimension." Back at the start only a few political analysts would comment on the situation
in Russia's neighboring countries, about the developments in Ukraine, Belarus, the Tran-
scaucasia, and so on. We were continuously monitoring the situation in these countries
and, of course, their relations with Russia. Secondly, while commenting on any event - on-
going elections, the coming to power of a political party - we analyzed the party's position
towards Russia, and we were trying to forecast the main trends in the development of re-
lations with Russia, following the victory of that political force.
We also placed special emphasis on having internship programs for journalists and building
the bench strength on a long-term basis.