Listen to your heart: Yekaterina Andreyeva held a master-meeting for young journalists
A master-meeting with television presenter, journalist, newsreader and editor Yekaterina Andreyeva was held at the National Centre RUSSIA for participants in the Young Journalists School project. The expert shared with the students not only professional secrets, but also her personal success story. The meeting allowed the students to look behind the scenes of television and learn how live broadcasting works, from preparing materials to interacting with the team.
Yekaterina Andreyeva did not begin her path to television straight away. According to her, so-called reference points play a decisive role in every person’s life.
"Reference points exist in everyone’s life. It is like in Russian fairy tales, where there is a stone and three roads. But in reality, there are far more choices, so in order not to make a mistake, you need to constantly work on yourself and learn to turn any crisis situation into something positive. After all, choosing the wrong reference point may not simply leave you standing still, but even set you back," Yekaterina Andreyeva said.
The television presenter shared with the students the reference points in her career, which first "transferred" her from the Faculty of Law to the Faculty of History, and then "sent" her to Central Television. She explained why journalism is called the "fourth estate" and spoke about her experience working in a wide range of formats, from economic news and morning broadcasts to live broadcasts of events of national importance.
The expert paid special attention to the specifics of working live on air. Yekaterina Andreyeva explained why it is important for a presenter to take part personally in preparing a programme, and how in-depth knowledge of the situation and the people featured in the materials affects the quality of presenting information. She stressed that the most important professional skill is to remain calm even in the most stressful situations.
The students learned why journalism is not only a career, but also an enormous responsibility to millions of people, what skills a modern media professional needs in order to "hold" an audience and interview important figures, and how not to lose oneself in the information noise when one is the face of the country’s main news programme.
During the master-meeting, the aspiring journalists received practical advice on how to remain in demand in the profession for many years. Yekaterina Andreyeva noted the importance of hard work, practising articulation, studying "body language" and understanding the person one is speaking to. The television presenter paid particular attention to reading: according to her, clip thinking and reading only brief summaries of literary works not only fail to contribute to personal growth, but also prevent a person from "holding" an audience. She stressed that sport is also one of the foundations of success, while ordinary laziness is often disguised as tiredness.
"If you are not in good shape, if your brain is not working well, if you do not know how to make quick decisions and take responsibility, then you will miss many opportunities, even if you are a genius. People with outstanding talents sometimes fail to gain recognition precisely because of laziness and a lack of energy, which also has to be generated. In addition, it is very important to be in contact with yourself: to understand what exactly you can give to the world, and to focus on that. So listen to your heart, do not be afraid, do not be lazy, notice the signs of fate, answer the question 'Who am I?' for yourself, and remember: what matters more is not what a person says, but what they do," Yekaterina Andreyeva concluded.
At the end of the event, the students were able to ask the expert their questions. The young media professionals were interested in how to create a personal brand in journalism, maintain an information detox, build relationships within a team properly, stay in shape and cope with personal emotions. As a token of gratitude for the meeting and respect for their idol, the students presented Yekaterina Andreyeva with an unusual gift: a nevalyashka, a traditional Russian roly-poly doll, in the form of a black cat. The young journalists explained that a black cat is not a symbol of bad luck at all, but quite the opposite: it teaches people to preserve their individuality and protects them from adversity. The nevalyashka itself serves as the embodiment of resilience, because no matter how much it is tilted, it always returns to its original position. The television presenter was sincerely touched by the gift and promised that the nevalyashka cat would take pride of place in her office at Channel One.
The Young Journalists School is an original project of the National Centre RUSSIA, a multi-format training programme for media specialists of the future. Participants receive systematic knowledge about the Russian language and the power of words, the basics of journalism, its genres, ethics and legal standards. But the main emphasis is on practice: under the guidance of mentors, the students create multimedia content and immediately test it on different platforms. The project develops critical thinking, the ability to check facts and resist manipulation, and fosters a civic position and a sense of involvement in the life of the country.
Event photobank
The results of the 2025-2026 season of the Young Tour Guides School of Russia project were summed up at the National Centre RUSSIA.
