During their training, the Russian news directors will visit media in Chico, Sacramento, and San Francisco and learn theories and practices of U.S. television journalism from CSU, Chico's communication faculty.
The program is designed to strengthen the role of independent commercial television in Russia by increasing the ability of news directors to produce and disseminate high quality and objective information.
Training topics and site visits to numerous organizations in Northern California will provide an overview of the responsibilities of news directors, including personnel management, scheduling, reporting methodologies, legal and ethical responsibilities, and technical applications.
Along with attending classes and workshops on campus, the news directors will also be assisted by CSU, Chico faculty and students in the making of a training documentary to take back to Russia for use in training other Russian media personnel.
The four lead faculty working with the Russian news directors are Professor Peter Gross, Journalism; Associate Professor John Long, Media Arts; Assistant Professor Jennifer Meadows, Media Arts; and Assistant Professor John Roussell, Instructional Technology.
The news directors come from Moscow as well as outlying areas of Russia. In June 1995, CSU, Chico hosted a group of nine Russian TV news directors. In October 1995, fifteen Romanian reporters came to CSU, Chico for training.
CSU, Chico was chosen as the university site of this fall's media training for the news directors by the USAID Moscow office.
Among the television stations the group will visit are KNVN-TV Channel 24 and KHSL-TV Channel 12 in Chico and KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento.
For more information about the Russian news directors' visit, call Diana Parks, CSU, Chico International Programs, at 530-898-6049.
JW