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US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission meeting to discuss media cooperation

It is planned to hold several plenary sessions during the forum

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, August 1 (Itar-Tass) - Current problems and prospects for the development of modern media space will be discussed by the participants in the fourth meeting of the Sub-Working Group on Mass Media of the US-Russian Bilateral Presidential Commission, which is opening in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

According to the organisers, taking part in the forum will be attended the heads of the leading Russian and American media, representatives of professional associations of journalists, the educational and scientific community. The Russian side’s delegates include chief editor of the Ogonyok magazine Sergei Agafonov, CEO of the Izvestia publishing house Erast Galumov, chief editor of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily Vladislav Fronin, head of the St. Petersburg regional information centre ITAR-TASS Boris Petrov, chief editor of the St. Petersburg online newspaper Fontanka Andrei Konstantinov, Dean of the Journalism Department of Moscow State University (MGU) Yelena Vartanova, first secretary of the Union of Journalists of Moscow Lyudmila Shcherbina.

From the United States taking part in the meeting will be President of the International Centre for Journalists Joyce Barnathan, Public Affairs Officer at the US Department of State Gloria Berbena, Dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at University of South Carolina Charles Bierbauer and others.

The Russian side’s coordinator of the working group for mass media will be Itar-Tass First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, the US side’s coordinator is Acting Coordinator for the Bureau of International Information Programs at the US Department of State Maureen Cormack.

It is planned to hold several plenary sessions during the forum. They include the issues of “perception of the United States and Russia through the prism of mass media,” “evolution of professional journalism: citizen journalism,” “evolution of professional journalism: education with a focus on investigative journalism.” In addition, the experts will discuss prospects for journalist exchanges between the two countries.

The US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission was established by the Presidents of Russia and the United States in 2009 to promote cooperation in the spheres of culture, education, sports and information. More than 60 Russian and US government agencies participate in its work. Since the establishment of the Commission, several hundred joint meetings have been held under its auspices.

The Itar-Tass news agency is the organiser of the fourth meeting of the working group on mass media, which will end on August 2.

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