The 35th anniversary reception on the occasion of Russian Press Day was held in Moscow. The event brought together government and public figures, journalists and producers, cameramen and military personnel, doctors and builders - all those involved in working in the media space. The reception was organized by the Moscow Union of Journalists.
Lyudmila Shcherbina, first secretary of the Moscow Union of Journalists:
“This is the 35th time we have invited journalists and our guests to say “thank you” to journalists for their very serious work. There is such a truth, journalistic work is very significant and dangerous, because journalists are in second place in terms of mortality, after test pilots and miners. Therefore, we are working to create programs that help save journalists - these are our “Bastion” courses, which we have been conducting since 2005.”
Thanks to the Bastion educational and practical courses, more than a thousand journalists received the knowledge necessary to work in extreme conditions. Military correspondent Alexander Kots has been working in such difficult conditions for 20 years. He covered conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan, revolutions in Latin American countries. Now he works in the Northern Military District zone.
Alexander Kots, military correspondent of the publishing house “Komsomolskaya Pravda”:
“The main goal is to show people - participants in the conflict, these are military personnel, volunteers, humanitarian workers, doctors, civilians who suffer the most in military conflicts. It is important for me to show the war through them. Not through soulless iron, a tank passed through, a cannon fired, but through people who are directly involved in the conflict, through their tragedies, successes, defeats”
Pavel Gusev, Chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists:
“Today’s journalist is a journalist who defends the truth, defends Russia, our Great Russia. First of all, I would like to say about our journalists who cover the Northern Military District. We know that there are dead and wounded, there are heroes - those who did everything so that people would know the truth about the most ordinary guys, about those who are fighting today for the honor and dignity of our country.”
One of the guests of honor was the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Journal, Anna Grushina. She is a laureate of many awards, awarded the Order of Friendship, awarded the Letter of Gratitude from the President of Russia, and last year received the certificate of a Combat Veteran. For three years, Anna Filippovna has been helping the military on the front line as part of the Agitation Brigade project.
Anna Grushina, editor-in-chief of “Moscow Journal”:
“I have found so many friends, what hurts the most is that you accepted a person into your heart, and then you come and he’s gone. There is nothing worse than this feeling, and yet he is alive. He is alive in his children.”
There are also losses among journalists. Last year, war correspondents Semyon Eremin, Nikita Tsitsagi, Sergei Yartsev, Valery Kozhin, Yulia Kuznetsova, and Alexander Martemyanov died in the line of duty. The audience honored their memory with a minute of silence.
At the reception, the results of the year were summed up and media representatives were presented with well-deserved awards.
Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
“A journalist is a hero of our time. Thanks to journalists, we have the opportunity to receive the truth, we have the opportunity to hear different points of view, we have the opportunity not to lose or lose trust, and, accordingly, faith. God grant that the profession survives in this era of post-truth, God grant that teaching and learning are carried out at a high level.”
Awards were presented in all areas - politics and economics, medicine and education. Media workers have received recognition from various ministries and departments.
Tatyana Remezova, host of the Rossiya TV channel:
“This feeling of family is very warming, to understand that you are part of a single community, people who think the same way as you, who go through life the same way as you, it is important for each of us to feel like part of some big community.”
Such a community is, of course, the Moscow Union of Journalists. The team of the Greater Asia media group has been a member of the Union for two years now and is receiving awards on the occasion of Russian Press Day for the second year. Last year, the work of the media resource was noted by the Moscow Government, and this year by the Mosinzhproekt group of companies.
Alexander Lebedev, General Director of the Greater Asia media group, member of the Presidium of the Moscow Union of Journalists:
“We are noted by Mosinzhproekt JSC because this year we made a program in the cycle “Moscow is the best city on earth”, about Metrostroy, and it is entering its anniversary year, next year they will be 95, and we actively support, despite the fact that We don’t have direct contractual relations, but we found not just partners in this organization, we found friends.”
The Mosinzhproekt company says: it is impossible to do without journalists in the modern world.
Sergey Zhukov, General Director of Mosinzhproekt JSC:
“Huge words of gratitude from the builders and metro builders of Moscow, because without you it’s impossible to build the metro, we are still building for residents and guests of the capital, so everything you write about our difficult work. I bow to you for your work.”
There are over half a million people in the Union of Journalists of Russia. All of them are united by the desire to help people and tell the truth about what is happening.
