Training at the Young Journalists School of the National Centre RUSSIA to begin on 1 March

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A presentation of the Young Journalists School was held at the National Centre RUSSIA. The school aims to train talented teenagers aged 12 to 17 who dream of a career in media. The selection competition started on 8 January on the website russia.ru, and training will begin on 1 March. The programme will contribute to raising a new generation of journalists, bloggers and media specialists. 

"The National Centre RUSSIA was established by the Order of our President as a space of pride, where our younger generation can dream, create, shape the future and master professions. We see great interest in journalism and media among young people, which is why, together with the Movement of the First and our partners, we are launching the Young Journalists School. This programme will not only be a first immersion into the profession, where participants will be able to learn to work with texts and create content. We will help them get to know the country better, love it even more, and skilfully speak about its present and future achievements," said Anastasia Zvyagina, Deputy Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA. She added that the Young Journalists School is starting in Moscow, but this experience will later be extended to the regions.

"A journalist is a person with a special instinct: they sense where to go, where events will happen. Being at the centre of these events is a real pleasure for a professional <...> Materials should not only be interesting and entertaining but also useful. We no longer live in the old paradigm where TV news was the only truth. Today, information spreads instantly. And in the conditions of an information war, the main task is to distinguish truth from falsehood," noted Marina Kim, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, and a journalist.

The Young Journalists School curriculum consists of five educational modules, including in-depth study of the Russian language, the basics of journalism and media law, professional ethics, as well as practical lessons in creating multimedia content and developing analytical thinking.

Participants will meet with experts from leading federal media outlets and holdings, work on their own media projects, take part in covering the activities of the National Centre RUSSIA, attend sessions at the Media House of the First, and engagement in activities held at the venues of the "Youth and Children in the Space of Opportunities" project.

"The Movement of the First acts as a key platform and co-organiser of the Young Journalists School educational project. We show young people that journalism represents, above all, an interest in the world, empathy, and the ability to honestly tell about what is happening around. Already today, the projects of the Movement, including 'News of the First', regularly gather a large audience, passing on unique experience and confidence to young authors. Thanks to the project, participants will have the opportunity not only to study but also to immediately apply their knowledge in practice: create their own materials, work with current news hooks and cover them for a wide audience. We are convinced that being a journalist is a great joy and a great responsibility. Therefore, within the project, we will help participants learn to speak in a way that resonates with viewers and readers, so that the audience feels sincerity and engagement," emphasised Yelena Kunina, Head of the Media Communications Department of the Movement of the First.

The school's programme partners are the ANO "Dialogue" and the New Media Workshop. This collaboration allows for the combination of educational, expert and practical resources for the comprehensive training of future journalists.

"Today, to successfully handle any task, professional skills alone are no longer enough — one must possess media literacy and practice digital hygiene. We live in conditions of information overload, where not everything is reliable, useful or safe. Even at a household level, it is important to understand how modern media work, to be able to fact-check and not succumb to the influence of fakes, the number of which only grows every year," said Yulia Ablets, Deputy Director General of the ANO "Dialogue Regions" and founder of the New Media Workshop.

Journalism is a profession of opportunities, where the decisive role is played by the readiness to take a chance, to speak boldly and sincerely, to influence people and to feel the audience's live response, believes Denis Gorshkov, an observer for the RBK TV channel. He emphasised that if work gives you "goosebumps", it means the person has chosen their calling and came into the profession not by accident: "A huge role in life is played by his majesty chance. Thanks to chance, I realised that television could become a fantastic future. I have travelled across half of the country thanks to television, learned what Russia is, seen corners that many people do not even suspect exist. Thanks to chance, I ended up at the National Centre RUSSIA. And each of you must use this chance, including through the Young Journalists School."

The selection of participants for the Young Journalists School will last until 10 February. Applicants must write an essay on one of three proposed topics: "Russia. Thank You, My Homeland!", "My Russia in the Future", "National Centre RUSSIA — a Space of Love and Pride". It is also necessary to record a video introduction telling about yourself and answering the question "Why should I become a participant of the Young Journalists School?". The essay and video should be published on VK on a personal page or a mentor's page with the hashtags #НЦРоссия #ШЮЖ_НЦРоссия. After that, all this information must be added to the application form on the russia.ru website.

The list of participants for the selection stage will be published on 18 February. Then, from 19 to 24 February, an in-person interview stage will take place, where participants will have to write an essay. On 25 February, the National Centre RUSSIA will announce the list of participants selected for the School. In-person studies will run from 1 March to 30 June.

Upon completion, graduates will receive a certificate of graduation from the Young Journalists School, their first portfolio containing publications on media resources, promotion on social networks, a recommendation letter from the National Centre RUSSIA for university admission, as well as referrals to major media projects. Outstanding participants will be offered an internship in the press office of the National Centre RUSSIA.

"At the National Centre RUSSIA, in the Young Journalists School, the children will meet masters who will be involved in their training and become mentors. These are the people who will guide them through the profession, who will show them how to work," said Anzhelika Kiryan, Deputy Director General of the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" Media Group and host of the "Russia Speaks" podcast.

Details on the Young Journalists School and the application for training can be found on the official website of the National Centre RUSSIA in the "Projects" section.