The journalism and communication departments do nothing short of providing their students with chances to meet professionals in their related fields and hear them speak about their experiences. A lecture series Wednesday was more than eye-opening for not just students studying media, but for anyone who lives in the United States. A panel of five Russian journalists and editors spoke about the state of journalism in their country as well as visited journalism classrooms, speaking about what is going on across the pond.
Vladimir Putin has been the president of Russia since 2007 and the state of journalism has become a life-or-death kind of profession, mainly because of his reign. It has increasingly turned authoritative and the media more censored, a sharp turn for the worse. Investigative journalism in Russia often lacks permanence now; if journalists work for state news organizations and publications they are paid more because they are essentially creating public relations for the state.
If they are not writing for the state, journalists are not paid very well, and are often times likely to be killed if their work displays the government in a poor light in an effort to seek the truth. This is something we as Americans may not even be able to comprehend. Free press is something we take for granted just like water; it is just always there.
Becoming an independent working journalist in Russia means risking your life to state the facts, even if it is against the government.
In the United States, we can disagree with the president, start a blog devoted to promoting a certain religion or social issue even if it is just based on opinion and even write a simple 'Letter to the Editor' to any newspaper commenting on a recent story.
These are aspects of journalism that just simply do not exist in Russia, aspects we should take more advantage of.
The Miami Student Editorial Board believes that all Miami University students are in some sense journalists, and we need to open our eyes to what is going on in the rest of the world.
Many of us believe we are living in this modern world, but in reality there are many places where free press simply does not exist. Ask yourself; could you imagine not being able to choose from an array of newspapers to read from? What would it be like for the Internet to be restricted? Could you imagine being killed for publishing a book because it offended a politician? These questions are probably hard to answer, because to us, they seem unimaginable.
Point blank, we take advantage of our media. It is now so often saturated and contaminated with entertainment and soft news, usually skimming the news about the world and what is going on in politics so that we can read about what is going on in Hollywood. We are able to access the Internet for news from Wi-Fi hotspots at Starbucks, most restaurants and, of course, libraries. According to Internet World Statistics, only 44 percent of the population of Russia has access to the Internet. In the United States 80 percent of the population has access to the Internet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Not even half the population of Russia has access to the Internet, and even if they do, websites are limited in number, and often censored.
While we are surfing websites like Yahoo!, The ONION and even E News, journalists in Russia are risking their lives daily to get news published about their government and their country to the public, while remaining objective and pursuing the portrayal of truth. That is what journalism is about, and as students and as a bigger whole as Americans, it's safe to say we may have lost sight of this element of journalism a long time ago.
The Editorial Board believes we have a duty to our readers not to mask entertainment as news or to make the government happy. News organizations in Russia and some other parts of the world are censored and coerced with money and possible murder to basically instill public relations for the state as news.
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This has opened our board's eyes to what the rest of the world is going through when it comes to media. It is a wake up call to students to explore international journalism and media.
We have this unique media in the United States, but the only way to build off of it and make it better is to learn what is happening throughout the rest of the world.
If you think you aren't a journalist just because you aren't majoring in it, think again. Posting statuses on Facebook, running your own blog and even your tweets are all examples of an independent movement to produce content, whenever we feel like it.
As students document their lives through social media, some throughout the world are lucky if they even have a pen or pencil to write their experiences down in a notebook.
The next time you pick up a newspaper, a magazine or surf the web, try to remember that these outlets of news and information is a personal choice and one of our freedoms as Americans.
Tough, determined journalists and editors in Russia understand the importance of truth and the pursuit of giving their public what they need. But does the United States understand this? Where has the pursuit of truth gone and why has entertainment replaced hard news?
These questions may never be answered, but hopefully for those that were able to attend the discussion panel and those that read this editorial, they will understand how truly lucky we are.
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