The Arctic should become one of the main topics of the big media background

Skills of Yamal to find balance between industrial development, preservation of ecology and observation of rights of indigenous peoples of the North should become the global experience. It was stated by the chairman of the Union of journalists of Russia Vladimir Solovyov. In Salekhard he participated in the plenary session of the International Circumpolar Mass Media Congress “Arctic Media World”, where the participants discussed ecological problems in the Arctic.

Presentations were made by the governor of Yamal Dmitry Artyukhov, the secretary of the Union of journalists in Finland Juha Rekola, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vladimir Pushkaryov, the chairman of Barents Press Sweden Tim Andersson, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Alexander Kamnev, the ambassador-at-large for international cooperation in the Arctic at the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation Vladimir Barbin and others. The general tone of the speeches seemed varnished to journalists, and therefore the participants of the session had to answer rather tough questions.  

For example, one of the journalists is interested in how Russia is going to respond to challenges of Greenpeace, which traditionally “rolls out” (uses in its interests) the environmental policy of the Russian government in well-selling media channels, thereby forming negative background in the world community. A journalist from Sweden says that in our country people know quite well about the Arctic, in Europe people are not interested in this issue or know about it, as they say, tangentially. The news agency “Sever-Press” invited the President of the Union of journalists of Russia Vladimir Solovyov more actively to lobby distribution of information about life of the northern regions, because journalists from provinces know much more about the Arctic than federal colleagues.

Solovyov took the critics and said that exactly for this purpose in June the Union had launched the new project “Arctic Club”, the task of which is to provide the Russian mass media with reliable and meaningful information about development of the Arctic and state policy in this direction. With help of the Club it is planned to achieve elimination of incompetence of the Russian press in discussion of arctic problems and to promote the theme of the Arctic, making it one of the most important topics in any discussion of economic development of Russia.

“Now most often the story about problems in the Arctic is told, but it is necessary to tell also about good things — new extractive fields, cleaning of islands, protecting of languages and life of indigenous peoples of the North. Many countries are included in the circumpolar community and all have similar problems. Indeed, in many countries of the Arctic part of the world people do not know how this situation is developing in Russia, about finding of balance between hydrocarbon extraction, life of indigenous peoples and ecology. Such experience should be accumulated, and it can become global”, he commented.

According to him, this topic should reach the international level of media discussion of the Arctic problems.