The Media Institute team takes part in new "Sirius" Сentre educational programme on the Black Sea coast

Sirius Educational Center launched a new programme called "Literary Creativity. Journalism and the Media". For three weeks, students from all over Russia will get acquainted with the media field and learn how the country's top journalists work. The programme was prepared by the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, and the social network VKontakte. The course was co-authored by specialists from the Media Institute. Within the framework of the intensive, they will hold thematic workshops in the educational modules "Media Leaders" and "The School of Contemporary Media".

© Olga Zotova

This course is designed for students in grades 8–11 who have demonstrated outstanding ability in Literary Contests. And in creating various media products. The curriculum consists of four modules: "Media Leaders", "School of Modern Media", "Profile Workshops" and "Presentation". The programme aims to introduce and teach pupils the basics of multimedia production at different levels. During the classes, pupils learn about the peculiarities of creating texts, videos, interviews, and podcasts.

"The media world is changing rapidly, and with it, the demands placed on a new generation of journalists. We have prepared a programme in which future correspondents, photographers, cameramen, and presenters will be taught by media professionals, whose competence is sometimes proven by simply pressing a button on the TV remote control or searching the Internet. Our goal is to prepare high school students for work in the media today, so that when they apply their knowledge when they enter university, they will be able to work in the best media outlets in the country," explains the main curator of the programme, host of the programme "Vesti v 20:00" on the "Rossiya 1" TV channel, director of the HSE Media Institute, and director of the "First Media Academy" Institute of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Ernest Matskyavichyus. 

The programme's educational technology is a unique combination of theory and practice: the course includes master classes, practical classes, work in creative workshops, and project presentations to a wider audience. During the master-class "Journalism and its role in the modern world", Ernest Matskyavichyus  talks about the development of journalism in Russia, key features and trends, key qualities, and career opportunities for journalists of the 21st century.

Ernest Matskyavichyus,

the host of the programme "Vesti v 20:00" on Rossiya 1 TV channel, director of the Media Institute of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, director of the "First Media Academy" Institute Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

"I believe that journalism is one of the best professions, which not only provides you with the opportunity to change the fate of people and society, but also helps you change your professional and creative life, gain new skills and competencies, which will allow you to successfully evolve and become a leader. We have prepared a programme and assembled a unique team of teachers, combining the expertise of "Sirius", the Higher School of Economics Media Institute and the "First Media Academy" Institute Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. If schoolchildren just try their skills in this field and touch the profession, they will already have a lot to gain."

Ekaterina Semenova, Deputy Director of the HSE Media Institute, international journalist, TV presenter, producer, chief editor of the program «Tipichnaya Novorossiya» on the TV channel «Rossiya 24», at the lecture «How to become the best in the profession and be able to catch the president for an interview» will reveal possible ways to get an exclusive speaker for an interview, explain who is such a producer in modern media, what is his role and «creative technology». 

Mikhail Zelentsov, creative director of the "Contemporary Journalism" educational programme, will dissect questions of genre journalism and journalistic publicist culture. During his master- classes, the listeners will learn about the main genre-forming factors, why genres in modern media are subject to diffusion, and receive recommendations on using various journalistic tools and techniques, developing topics, and editing texts.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Media of HSE, Advisor of the Media Group «Rossiya segodnya», Candidate of Philological Sciences Oleg Dmitriev will reveal the topic of the work of news agencies, types of target audiences, and information verification. 

Schoolchildren will take part in the business game "Breaking News" and will receive practical assignments on writing a reference agency text.  Workshops for the participants of the intensive will also be held by the author and co-host of "Moskva. Kremlin. Putin" on channel "Rossiya 1" Pavel Zarubin; journalist, TV presenter of programs "Sinyaya ptitsa", "Tantsy so zvezdami", "Belaya studiya" Daria Zlatopolskaya; the deputy general producer of channel "Match TV" Vasily Konov; the head of Vkontakte external promotion team Vyacheslav Prokhorov and many others.

A key feature of the programme "Literary Creativity. Journalism and the Media" is immersion in a professional environment. As part of the practical work, schoolchildren will be divided into editorial boards for the development of their own media - a VKontakte community devoted to a theme that the kids will define themselves. They will present news bulletins on subjects such as science, art, and sports. Each team, under the guidance of professional mentors, will create content, design visuals and promote the community using the skills they learned during the intensive. Materials will be published on the Education Centre's social media channels.

Thanks to the "Sirius" intensive, students will be able to think in a new way about the choice of journalism as a career field in the future. And the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired on the programme will help future journalists create their own media projects.

Produced by the Sirius Education Centre and the Media Institute

Translation: Polina Semenova, a first-year student of Master's programme "Contemporary Journalism"