Awards for Young Foreign-Affairs Journalists

On January 29, the Central House of Journalists hosted the jury session and the award ceremony of the nationwide Contest for Young Foreign-Affairs Journalists held by the Russian International Affairs Council jointly with International Affairs magazine and Russian Union of Journalists. Winners were found in nominations for the Best Foreign-Affairs Analytical Article, Best Foreign-Affairs Report, and Best Foreign-Affairs Interview.

On January 29, the Central House of Journalists hosted the jury session and the award ceremony of the nationwide Contest for Young Foreign-Affairs Journalists held by the Russian International Affairs Council jointly with International Affairs magazine and Russian Union of Journalists.

The jury included RAS Full Member Yevgeny Primakov, Member of RAS Presidium; RIAC President Igor Ivanov; RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov; Chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists Vsevolod Bogdanov; Editor–in–Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine Fyodor Lukyanov; Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs journal Armen Oganesyan; political observer of The Voice of Russia radio Valentin Zorin; Editor–in–Chief of Russian Gazette Vladislav Fronin; Director General of Interfax Information Agency Mikhail Commissar; Editor-in-Chief of Russia Today TV channel Margarita Simonyan; Dean of International Journalism Department at MGIMO-University Yaroslav Skvortsov; and Director of the Russian-Polish Center for Dialog and Understanding Pyotr Stegny.

Winners were found in nominations for the Best Foreign-Affairs Analytical Article, Best Foreign-Affairs Report, and Best Foreign-Affairs Interview:

Best Foreign-Affairs Analytical Article

First Prize – Gevorg Mirzayan («Qatar will Have to Sober up», «Expert»)

Second Prize– Aidar Buribayev («Out of Reach for Good», «Forbes»)

Third Prize – Sergey Mikhnevich («Chinese Helping Hand for Europe: On or Off?», «Modern Politics»)

Awardees:

• Ilya Zhegulyov («The Lost Gold of Mongolia», «Forbes»);
• Ilya Dashkovsky («All in Green», «RBC»);
• Alina Zubareva («Ulan-Qatar», «RBC»);
• Roman Kretsul («Quality vs. Quantity», «Vzglyad»);
• Yekaterina Vinogradova («Libya and Latin America: Information Warfare against the West», «World and Politics»);
• Alexey Konstantinov («Hands-Free Talking», «Kommersant - Vlast»);
• Tatyana Makarova («The French Price of Hollande’s Victory», «Slon»);
• Nadezhda Linnas («Right Turn», «Expert»);
• Rami al-Kalyubi («Egypt: One Year without Mubarak», «MK-Egypt»);
• Dmitry Bobrik («Bahrain Fears Continuation of Arab Spring», «Course»).

Best Foreign-Affairs Interview

First Prize - Alexander Gabuyev («A Base to Feed Russian Generals’ Ego», «Kommersant»)

Second Prize - Olga Golovanova («Kofi Annan Unlikely to Persuade Moscow Driving Assad to Resign», «Interfax»)

Third Prize - Yekaterina Zabrovskaya («Russia and Australia need to fill information gap», «Russia Beyond the Headlines»)

Awardees:

• Alexander Gasyuk («Understanding the Consequences», «Rossiyskaya Gazeta»);
• Olga Bogdanova («No Top-Down Renovation for Economy», «RBC»);
• Marianna Belinskaya («Riad Khaddad: a Friend in Need», St Petersburg University Portal);
• Svetlana Muravyova («Going East», «Kirov Business News»);
• Anna Analbayeva («Globalization Prevents Acceleration», «Vzglyad»);
• Helena Slastina («Granddad Took Berlin and I am Working in Germany», «Chita Review»);
• Maria Simonova («A Country Heading Nowhere», «RBC»).

Best Foreign-Affairs Report

First Prize - Arslan Khasavov(«A Symbol of Resistance», «The New Times»)

Second Prize - Artyom Zagorodnov («Long way to San Francisco», «Russia Beyond the Headlines»)

Third Prize - Andrey Raskin («Facebook intenta atraer a los usuarios rusos», «Russia Beyond the Headlines»)

Awardees:

• Alexander Gavrilov («Donetsk in Eurozone», «Who is the Main»);
• Alina Beriashvili («Gamardzhoba, Genatsvale!», «Novgorod Vedomosti»);
• Olga Kuzmenkova («Waiting for October 1 to Come», «Gazeta.ru»);
• Amur Gadzhiyev («Clinton in Turkey: Aiming at War or Peace?», «The Voice of Russia»);
• Alexander Pivovarenko («Why Russians Created a Party in Serbia?», «Slon.ru»);
• Helena Ionaitis («Pomor Character, Halibut and Curved Wood Pieces,  «Business class Arkhangelsk»);
• Christina Golubeva («European Hoteliers Interested in Sochi, Franchising and Apartments», RATA News).

Winners received diplomas and awards, while the jury decided to place the Contest on the annual basis. After the event, renowned Russian journalists offered young journalists some parting words and advice.

Valentin Zorin, political observer of The Voice of Russia radio

- Just one point. My young colleagues seem to be keen on multiplicity, writing about anything. Sometimes they are too much in a hurry, sometimes skin-deep. In my days, foreign policy journalists used to describe the situation while specializing on problems, countries and regions. For example, Yevgeny Primakov was and still is an expert on the Middle East. Stanislav Kondrashov is a U.S. scholar, his latest book is titled Americanist. Vsevolod Ovchinnikov was a classic of international journalism, especially in the field of Sinology and Japanese studies. His Branch of Sakura is a must-read for everyone who is going to Japan. I am also deep in American studies, combining journalism with research at the RAS Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies. Believe me, specialization of such kind has never damaged writing. I would like the current generation of journalists to be able to both quickly respond to global events and concentrate on a country, a region or a problem, having a command far better than that of the readers, viewers and listeners.

Armen Oganesyan, Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs journal, RIAC Member

- I would like to see young journalists out of the mainstream, working hard, inquisitively and knowledgeably. Life is getting more complicated, hence one should not lose the scan points and vision that make one creative, talented and, primarily, humane. Be who you are even under the avalanche of information and opinions, no matter how varied they are.

Pyotr Fyodorov, Head of Foreign Department at Russian State TV and Radio Company

- The journalist's must is thinking, asking oneself questions, and learn history – be it country studies, diplomacy, philosophy or economics – because history makes an excellent source for diverse knowledge. To attain something, one should not believe but research, swimming against the current.

Sergey Brilyov, Anchorman and Deputy Director on Special Information Projects, Russia TV Channel, RIAC Member

- I would prefer young foreign policy journalists begin with traveling around Russia in order to understand one's whereabouts and only then switch to international issues. This has been my way.

Awards for Young Foreign-Affairs Journalists , January, 29, 2013