Cox Center Partners with Russia to Teach Journalism

The Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, in collaboration with the Russian Journalists Union, the largest media organization in Europe, will be putting on three conferences to help Russian journalists improve the management of their organizations.

The conferences signal a step away from the isolation Russian journalists have felt since the end of the Cold War. According to Dr. Tudor Vlad, associate director of the Cox Center, journalism is a dangerous business in Russia. He said 260 men and women in the profession have been killed and less than 20 percent of their cases have seen trial. “Some of them are like heroes,” he said.

The Cox Center, based in the University of Georgia’s Grady College, will focus the fist two conferences on media management. With over 25 representatives from Russian media outlets scheduled to attend, Vlad said he expects the conference to be a rousing success.

The RJU selected the Cox Center to run the conferences because of its idea that all its programs are exchanges where all participants are treated equally, Vlad said. “The strategy of the Cox Center is to develop a partnership with local organizations,” he said. “It's not like we go like missionaries saying we know what's best for you.”

Vlad said local input is vital to the success of the conferences. “We think that the local partners know the exact needs for the local area,” he said.

Russia is home to over 50000 highly competitive media organizations. “The advertising market is not able to support these news organizations, so the question is, how do these media organizations survive?” Vlad said.

The conferences is open to representatives from media organizations funded independently and by public and private interests. The workshops will be led by Dr. Lee Becker, director of the Cox Center, Dr. Ann Hollifield, department head of telecommunications at Grady, Vladimir Kasyutin, a trainer for the RJU, and Nadezhda Azhgikhina, executive secretary and director of the RUJ.

Each workshop will begin with a short lecture by one of the leaders followed by a discussion with the participants. The first three-day lecture is scheduled to begin on June 6th in Samara, Russia.

Vlad said the Cox Center was very enthusiastic about the conferences. “This program is a beginning, an opening,” he said. “This is how you can build bridges.”

Athens' Commission Debates Homelessness, Housing

Several people voiced their concerns about Athens-Clarke County’s homelessness problem at the Commission’s agenda setting meeting, sparking an intense debate among commissioners about housing issues. Steve Phillips, Director of the Stable Foundation, an organization that provides housing to Athens' individuals and families, said Athens is ready to deal with homelessness issues.
“This community is ready and willing to help those people who can't help themselves,” he said, asking the commissioners to grant his foundation funding. “We just think we could put these funds to the best use.”
Commissioners responded to Phillips’ concerns and discussed other housing-related issues facing the county, including an addition to the Tri Delta sorority house and an expansion of the Link transit system.
Commissioner Harry Sims said that he supported funding programs to help the homeless, but was concerned about where the funding went. “We keep sprinkling it over here and over there,” he said, adding that if pooled in to one organization, the commission would get “the most bang for our buck.”
Sims also made the point that with one official program, the commission would be able to exert more control over taxpayers’ money. “We have more control over that person in (the Association of Governing Boards) than we do over those citizens just out there flittering and floating around,” he said.
Just because a citizen has a home doesn’t mean they’re without problems, according to Commissioner George Maxwell. According to Maxwell, several people living on the fringes of the county are forced to walk to Athens’ grocery stores and other shopping centers.
“We need to be looking out for those folks who got a raw deal in the past,” Maxwell said. “Let’s not abandon these folks.”
Maxwell requested that regardless of funding struggles in other areas, the commission ensure the Link’s runs include citizens forced away from the downtown area during past urban renewal projects.
“I realize it’s expensive to run the link, but when I see people, I would say senior citizens, who have to walk when they could have gotten on the bus and had a better experience, that disturbs me,” he said.
The Commission’s debate didn’t stop at housing issues. Commissioners also discussed at length:
- A lighting ordinance requiring businesses to shut off their outdoor lights after 11 p.m. or after the business closes.
- The development of a parking deck for the downtown area which could cost over $5 million.
- A rezoning request to allow a recording company to use space in Athens.
- The development of an Oconee Street Park and Ride lot.

Want to Get Involved? Talk to Your County Government.

Next time you hear someone complain they can’t buy alcohol on Sundays or smoke at a restaurant, tell them to take it up with their county government.
“You can’t go anywhere without being in a county,” said David Lynn, member of the Athens Clarke County Commission and member of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Of the over 3000 counties that make up the United States, Georgia holds the most with 159.
“Local government is really the only government that’s going to affect your day to day life,” Lynn said in a talk with University students. “In the old days they were only concerned with roads and taxation.” According to Lynn, modern county governments are involved in planning, development, parks, police, and several other areas.
“There’s no standard operating procedure for forms of county government,” Lynn said. “If you have 159 counties, there’s about 159 ways to organize a county government.”
Athens Clarke County became a consolidated government in 1991, uniting the governments of the city of Athens and Clarke County. Before incorporation, the area had several redundancies such as multiple police and parks departments.
“It’s worked well in Clarke County,” Lynn said, pointing out that what works for one county won’t necessarily work for the next.
“In Augusta, it’s been pretty much a disaster,” he said. “It doesn’t really reflect what the people of Augusta need.”
“The advantage of a consolidated government is you can act as a city when you want to and a county when you want to,” Lynn said. According to Lynn, this form of government allows the county to provide several services it otherwise would be unable to provide.
Community Connection, a non-profit, multi program human service agency, is an example of these services. The agency connects people in need with organizations willing to help, and people looking to volunteer to organizations looking for them.
According to Lynn, its benefits like this that people should look for out of their local government.

Kilbanoff Talks Ethics, Reporting

Hank Kilbanoff, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, said there’s no substitute for curiosity when it comes to reporting. Despite extensive training resulting in a Masters degree in journalism, Kilbanoff said he learned on the job that there's more to reporting than just writing. In a talk with Grady classes on Monday, Kilbanoff touched on the importance of protecting sources, building relationships, and doing the research necessary to write a balanced, informative story.