Spreading the Values of Journalism

Students at Kuban State University are learning journalism from one of the best in the business: editor-in-chief of Delovaya Gazeta Yug Oleg Shiryaev. The university is in Krasnodar in southern Russia.

"It's really cool that the modern standards of journalism used in the Bonnier Group are becoming basic knowledge for journalism students at Kuban University," says Shiryaev. "The current level of professionalism among reporters and editors in southern Russia is far from our standards. I'm glad that I can give my input to raise the level."

Shiryaev has worked as a journalist for 17 years. He started at Bonnier in 1999 as a reporter at the St. Petersburg business daily Delovoy Peterburg and later became editor for the online version. In 2007, he accepted the challenge and moved from St. Petersburg to Krasnodar to become editor-in-chief of the newly started business weekly Delovaya Gazeta Yug in southern Russia.

Having Shiryaev is a real plus for the students, says Nadezhda Kravtshenko, Chair of Journalism at Kuban University. "For the final year students, it's really important to understand how modern media works. It's great that a practicing editor-in-chief of a well-known and successful business publication can personally pass on his experience."

Delovaya Gazeta Yug was launched in 2007. For three consecutive years (2008-2010), the paper has won the prize as one of the best regional newspapers in Russia in a contest with more than 200 participants every year.