GlasNews articles, as well as GlasNet bulletins and material related to the October 1993 crisis in Moscow and the "New Media for a New World" conference, are available via ftp from ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/g/GlasNews.
We invite you to visit our other Web pages: "New Media for a New World," which has information about our East-West conference on new media; and "Finding the Path," an extensive survey of information technology for Asia-Pacific journalists, written by Managing Editor Alan Boyle.
To join GlasNews' subscription list, send the message "subscribe cepmail" to majordomo@eskimo.com. To unsubscribe to the list, send the message "unsubscribe cepmail" to majordomo@eskimo.com.
You can send us a message at glasnews@eskimo.com or at the Art Pattison Communications Exchange Program, 26411 218th Ave. S.E., Maple Valley, Washington 98038. Phone: Chairman David Endicott at 206-292-8255, Managing Editor Alan Boyle at 206-448-8035. Fax: 206-624-4953.
Tax-deductible contributions to CEP are greatly appreciated and acknowledged. Thanks to our latest contributors: The U.S. Agency for International Development through The Eurasia Foundation, US West, Mark D'Anastasio, Michael T. Hoopes and Laura L. Hoopes.
Acknowledgments also to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Ray Berry, Kim Carney, Jay Koski and Lorraine Pozzi for technical assistance.
I traveled a lot - to Washington, D.C., to Missouri, Maryland, Florida, Arizona. As a journalist, I came in contact with lots of people. But starting out, I felt adrift, unable to express myself the way I had hoped. I realized that perhaps my dream was too ambitious. However, other things happened that I never could have imagined.
When I came to register for my second semester at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I found that someone had lost my transcript - and the people at the registration desk told me I was too late to register for any of the classes I wanted.
"Whatever," I said. "I'll take what is left."
The classes that were left happened to be "New Media" and "Computer-Assisted Journalism."
I was totally disappointed. "Anything but computers!" I thought.
You see, my early experiences with computers were an exercise in frustration. One time during the first semester I lost a 20-page paper just because I didn't know how to save it. I guess I thought the computer should have been able to read my mind. Sometimes I still think that.
But one Sunday evening, at the university's computer lab, a friend of mine introduced me to the Iowa Student Computer Association, a bulletin board system that allows one to talk with many others via computer. Like most beginners, I became addicted within a week. I "met" people from all the states and all over the world, including my birthplace, Estonia. I found friends with interests similar to mine, who would listen to me and share their knowledge and feelings.
One night the computer lab was closed, and I felt like Robinson Crusoe on a deserted island.
But eventually the bulletin board lost its charm: It became more and more difficult to find people who were not pushing for cybersex. I still kept in touch with my friends, but we came to prefer real letters and conversations. A couple of months after that first Sunday evening, I quit using ISCA.
Instead, I took up a new hobby: cruising the Web. I found myself traveling around the world without packing my bags. I was astonished by creativity and the opportunities of using sound and animation. It was so exciting that I decided to become a cyberjournalist.
Part of the "New Media" class involved working for the Digital
Missourian online newspaper. Basically, I did hypertext markup and
editing. It was a very exciting time: I scanned my first picture. I created
my first home
page. I figured out what strange, high-tech words like telnet and FTP
meant. Every day was a discovery (and still is).
One day two guys from the Microsoft Network came in to give a presentation on the MSN's future newspaper - MSN news. They told us they were going to hire some people shortly and asked if anyone was interested in a job.
I had one more year to study, and my summer internship was already arranged at Sun.ONE, an online newspaper in Gainesville, Florida. So I didn't go to the interview. But since I planned to spend a couple of weeks in Seattle anyway, I wrote down the e-mail address for MSN News and sent off my resume.
When classes ended for the summer, I started my internship at Sun.ONE. It's a joint venture between the University of Florida and the Gainesville Sun, a newspaper owned by The New York Times. The "ONE" stands for Online News and Entertainment.
Sun.ONE uses a bulletin board system to distribute information. One of the most exciting things about it was the fact that we could send breaking news to everyone who was online virtually as soon as we got it from the wire. No matter what the users were reading at the time, they would see a short note overlaid on their monitors.
I liked my job as an online editor at Sun.ONE. I gained experience I couldn't have gotten as a mere student at the Digital Missourian. I made great friends - and I even got some sun. I didn't receive a reply from Microsoft Network News, so I decided to stay in Florida all summer.
I happened to find the phone number of a Missouri student who had his internship in Daytona and gave him a call. It turned out to be a stroke of luck: He told me someone from Microsoft was trying to contact me but didn't have my phone number in Florida. I called the Microsoft Network and was asked to work as an assistant world editor. It was beyond my wildest dreams - and so I flew across the country to Seattle.
As in other fast-paced operations I've known, there was little time for training at MSN News. From the very beginning I was, for the most part, on my own. There was almost no supervision. People would answer questions when they had time, but at the beginning I felt as if someone had thrown me into the deep water to see if I could survive. At first, I didn't have any specific assignments. I had to figure out somehow what would be useful to do for a newspaper that didn't exist yet. So I started swimming around.
I started reading different news services, thinking what stories I would pick up for the newspaper. At the same time I was reading other online newspapers, comparing my choice with theirs. As MSN News was not going to be an isolated newspaper, we started putting in links to Web sites related to the story. If I found an interesting site, I would send a note to an editor who might be interested in connecting to this site.
I don't know if there's anything I can't learn fast. But working for MSN was a special kind of challenge. During meetings, I would hear people speaking plain English and I couldn't understand a word. Everyone used computer terms I never heard before. I had to learn how to connect to different networks, how to use new applications, where to get the information I needed, how to work in a team and much, much more.
Everyone at MSN News worked 12 or even more hours every day. But I can't imagine any other place where people would joke so much and be so friendly.
Well, I am going back to the university soon. There's a lot for me to learn - I'm at the beginning of a long voyage.
See you online.
Organizers of the conference include the Art Pattison Communications Exchange Program, the Russian-American Press and Information Center, the Center for Civil Society International, GlasNet and Relcom.
Funding is provided through the Russian-American Media Partnership program, jointly administered by Internews and the Center for War, Peace and the News Media. The RAMP project receives financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Among this year's scheduled speakers are:
The seminar will offer hands-on training in the use of online tools such as the World Wide Web and other Internet resources, as well as Lexis/Nexis and other specialized information databases. It will also examine online ventures such as the St. Petersburg Press and TribNet/Vladivostok News, and explore future commercial opportunities in the online news industry.
The first "New Media for a New World" conference took place in July 1994 in Moscow, with the "virtual keynote" address given via e-mail by Vice President Al Gore.
In the United States, interested parties may contact the Art Pattison Communications Exchange Program, 26411 218th Ave. S.E., Maple Valley, WA 98038. (Phone: 206-432-8927, fax: 206-682-1697, e-mail: glasnews@eskimo.com or 73420.753@compuserve.com).
In Russia, the contact is the Russian-American Press and Information Center, 2/3 Khlebny Pereulok, Moscow. Postal address: P.O. Box 229, 2 Novy Arbat, Moscow 121019. Phone: (7-095) 203-4403 or 203-5802, fax: (7-095) 203-6831, e-mail: yevgenia@glas.apc.org or rapic@glas.apc.org.
Here are a couple of publications that continue to provide insights into the current situation in Russia and other parts of the old East Bloc. Indeed, their primary focus is the Balkan conflict - but you'll also find in-depth examinations of the Chechen conflict, human rights and what it all means for Russian society.
"WarReport" is published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, an "independent conflict-monitoring charity which informs the international debate on conflict and provides a platform and other support for voices of moderation caught in war."
Each monthly issue tracks the progress of the Balkan war. May's issue, for example, examines the impact of the Croatian recapture of Western Slavonia, as seen by news analysts in Belgrade, Zagreb and Osijek. There's also a series of background articles on the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal, including an interview with the tribunal's president.
June's issue takes on the Chechen conflict as well, with a comprehensive exploration of the political, ethnic and moral issues surrounding the fighting. Among the writers: Sergei Kovalev, the embattled head of Russia's human rights commission, Nezavisimaya Gazeta's Vitaly Tretyakov, Sevodnya's Pavel Felgenhauer and John Lloyd of The Financial Times.
You'll also find perspectives from the Caucasus critical of Dzhokar Dudayev's course. "The short spell of 'national romanticism' in Caucasus has to end and people must recognize that freedom cannot be won just by populist declarations," proclaims Yuri Soslambekov, former deputy chair of the Confederation of Caucasus Peoples.
All in all, "WarReport" is an impressive monthly briefing for Westerners longing for more than the daily spot story about the Balkans or the Chechen crisis.
Subscription rates for individuals are 20 British pounds or $30 for six issues, 30 pounds or $45 for 12 issues. For institutions, 12 issues are 50 pounds or $75. The supporter rate is 100 pounds or $150 for 12 issues.
Contact in the United States: Box 2617, New York, NY 10185. Phone: 212-688-1451. Fax: 212-371-4054. E-mail: uswarreport@igc.apc.org.
In Britain: Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH. Phone: 44-171-713-7130. Fax: 44-171-713-7140. E-mail: warreport@gn.apc.org.
"Uncaptive Minds" is a quarterly journal published by the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe, "a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation dedicated to supporting social movements in Eastern Europe."
Because it's issued quarterly, "Uncaptive Minds" plays less off the news than "WarReport," but its breadth is wider: The spring issue contains analyses and interviews from Moscow and the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
The perspectives range toward the activist/independent/opposition/dissident side of the spectrum. Whereas "WarReport" covers Russia primarily in the context of the Chechen crisis and ethnic policy, "Uncaptive Minds" takes the politics of Moscow dead-on.
In "Yeltsin Deceived Us," longtime dissident Valeria Novodvorskaya discusses the West's attitude toward Russia:
"In spite of everything that has come out of Chechnya, the West continues to pretend that Yeltsin is a democrat. It is easier that way for the West. The troubles are ahead, though. Hitler, too, was welcomed until 1939."
Strong stuff - and not the sort of thing you usually find in the Western press anymore. It would be tragic if the voices of conscience were drowned out by the cries of the market - or the silence of indifference. "Uncaptive Minds" helps ensure that those voices are still heard.
Subscription rates for four issues: $30 a year in the United States, $35 in Canada and Mexico, $40 for other foreign subscribers, $50 for institutions.
Contact for North America and other non-European subscriptions: Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe, 2000 P Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-466-7105. Fax: 202-466-7140. E-mail: idee@dgs.dgsys.com.
For Western Europe: Polnische Buchhandlung, Burggasse 22, A-1070 Wien, Austria.
For Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: IDEE, Skr. Poczt. 311, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland. E-mail: idee@plearn.edu.pl.
For the straight news from Itar-Tass news service, check out Trib.Com, the online service of the Star Tribune in Casper, Wyoming.
Trib.Com is not to be confused with TribNet, the online service of the News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington. TribNet has articles from the Vladivostok News, one of the Russian Far East's principal English-language newspapers.
Sergei Blagovolin, director-general of Public Russian Television, announced that the partly privatized network has created the company ORT-Reklama to sell advertising time on Channel 1, according to the Itar-Tass news service.
When the Ostankino television network was transformed into Public Russian Television (known by the Russian acronym ORT), it suspended advertising until August 1. ORT reaches an estimated audience of 200 million viewers in the former Soviet Union, and depending on the time of day, a one-minute advertisement on the network will now cost between $1,500 and $28,000.
Sergei Lisovsky, the chairman of the large advertising agency Premier-SV, was hired to head ORT-Reklama, even though ORT's new advertising rules, announced by then-director general Vladislav Listyev before he was assassinated in March, were ostensibly designed to reduce the influence of large private agencies on Channel 1 advertising.
Economic Life is a weekly business bulletin prepared in Vladivostok by Information Technologies Laboratory and made available via postal mail as well as e-mail. You'll find statistics about wages and prices in the Far East as well as items about such things as the sea urchin season in Primorski Krai, who's doing what in the gold-mining industry, how the Vladivostok stock exchange is doing, and what's up with the competitive bidding for nuclear waste disposal. Not the sort of literature you'd want to take to the beach, but certainly of interest to those who want to keep up with developments in what is arguably Russia's most resource-rich region.
Subscription rates for e-mail delivery are $90 for 3 months, $170 for 6 months, $265 for 12 months. Postal subscription rates: $105 for 3 months, $195 for 6 months, $320 per year.
Russian Business Advertiser, a monthly feature of Economic Life, is something of a "shopper" publication - a series of advertisements for business opportunities not only in the Far East, but in the rest of Russia as well. This can make for pretty interesting reading: For example, there's the guy in Sevastopol who's seeking dealers for model sailing ships, the former military plant in Yekaterinburg that's selling ultra-fine diamond powder, the come-ons from export/import companies and advertising-hungry media such as Open Radio. "Make us an offer we can't refuse," pleads TOO Telekompaniya Eysk-TV, which is looking for American foodstuffs and tobacco as well as offering hand-painted gift items.
Marketing Data Research also has programs that will translate and place advertising in Far East newspapers - or even distribute your ad throughout Russia via e-mail. The price is $30 for up to 100 words (either appearing four times in print or over the course of 10 days on the Internet.
For information, contact the company at 8103 104th St. S.W., Tacoma, Washington USA 98498. Phone: 206-588-4149. Fax: 206-588-4366. E-mail: mktg@ix.netcom.com or 71242,2213@compuserve.com.
By the way, you can contact Open Radio's advertising department at 101000 Russia, Moscow, ul. Pushkina, 25. Phone: 7-095-233-76-40, 233-70-65, 233-70-30. Fax: 7-095-233-70-30. Telex: 411137.
The Microsoft Network also will be available in Russia, although the information available through MSN will be in the English language only, at least at first. For information about MSN, call 956-0885 in Moscow.
Of course, pirated copies of Windows 95 - at least the not-fully-ready "beta" version of the program - have been available on the streets of Moscow for weeks. The going price is as low as $25, compared with $89 for the real thing in America.
ISDN requires special equipment at the user end as well as a high-grade connection to the central office, so it will take a while for ISDN to catch on in Russia. It generally costs more than plain old telephone service, too. But when you need to download huge chunks of audio, video or software, ISDN makes a big difference.
Britain will get the first modern telephone link with Russia, and NorTel is now working to give Russia an ISDN link to a further 37 countries, according to a report from United Press International.
(Items for Short Takes are drawn from the FSUMedia mailing list, the newsletter Media Developments, the Monitor, Net Talk and other information sources. To subscribe to the FSUMedia list, send e-mail message (subscribe fsumedia firstname lastname) to listproc@sovam.com)