MOSCOW, RUSSIA - The World Trade Center Moscow hosted a forum for the business media, “The Media on Raising Competitiveness of Priority Industries of Russian Economy”, which is planned and organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI) and the Journalists’ Union of Russia, and co-sponsored by Moscow’s WTC.

Alexander Shkirando, Director of the Public and Media Relations of the CCI opened the Forum. He remarked that this year the meeting was attended by representatives of more than 60 media companies based in 50 regions of the country. Alexander Torshin, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, underlined the importance of building productive work with the media. He also translated the greetings from Valentina Matvienko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council, and wished everyone patience and greater interaction with the legislature. 

In his address, Sergei Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, dwelled on the important relationship between business, media and the authorities. “Quite frequently, in order to reach the authorities at the regional and federal level, a public discussion is required, presentation of different viewpoints. To write the truth about economic processes is not always an easy challenge and that profession needs to be respected”, the CCI president told the reporters.

Vladimir Salamatov, General Director of WTC Moscow said, “Business journalism must make it clear that industries which have weak positions in domestic and external markets pose a serious challenge for the country. We must write about our best achievements, best practices, points of growth and most efficient instruments.”

Rafael Guseinov, Secretary of the Journalists’ Union of Russia, complained that very often coverage of issues faced by strategically important industries of economy in nationwide media leaves much to be desired. “Most journalists, especially those working in nationwide media, are eager to write about big money and large projects. The humble medium-sized and small businesses are often left unheeded”, Guseinov said. At the same time, regional media, on the other hand, have built a school of competent journalism, which is ready to stand up and defend the entrepreneurial community.

In the opinion of Elena Vartanova, Dean of the Journalism Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, young specialists writing on economic subjects have good prospects in the Russian media market. She pointed out that the specialty “business journalism” is one of the most favored in the Journalism Faculty. “It says a lot: our students are very sensitive to market requirements, and, naturally, they want to work in interesting places where the most important resources of our days are concentrated, i.e. business, power and information,” Mrs. Vartanova explained.

Other speakers at the forum included Oleg Tretyakov, General Director of the Expert. Northwest magazine, Olga Vostryakova, publisher of the Regional Russia magazine, Valery Pospelov, project manager at the Antikontrafakt information and analytical agency, Ivan Usov, editor-in-chief of the Dzerzhinskie Vedomosti newspaper, and several other experts. The forum closed with an award ceremony for the winners of the 20th All-Russia Journalists Competition - “Russia’s Economic Revival.”

For more information on this article, please contact Yulia S. Ivanova, WTC Moscow, at YSIvanova@wtcmoscow.ru.