Address by the director and founder of EMSC
Welcome to the website of the Eurasian Media Studies Center of the Faculty of Journalism.
In December 2020, by the decision of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, ensuring broad access of the population of the EAEU countries to information about the Union was included in the Eurasian Economic Integration Development Strategy 2021-2025.
Raising awareness among the population of five countries in the absence of a coordinated information policy is a time-consuming task that requires long-term preparation and an integrated approach to the solution. However, the need to deepen intercultural interaction and mutually popularize the values of the population of the member countries by activation of information exchange and increasing the accessibility of knowledge in the online environment is already evident. Neither the absence of customs barriers nor a unified financial space will contribute to the formation of the Eurasian identity, which should be an important addition to the national personal constructs of the population, which form a sense of involvement in the integration project with the citizens.
The formation of the interest of the population of the Union countries to the integration subject and the creation of the foundations for the construction of the Eurasian identity is in media`s power only. It is the media that can help the audience to explore the full range of competitive advantages that united Eurasia possesses in many global areas, as well as explain in a clear way the practical benefits the latter bring to the people of the member countries and what potential they have.
However, the role of mass media in this process is limited not only to the internal tasks. Creation and promotion of the EAEU brand in the international scene is impossible without continuous and focused information support.
At the same time, the development and implementation of certain elements of a unified information policy requires a clear understanding and preliminary study of the media systems of each of the EAEU states. Despite the fact that today the countries are united by access to the Internet and ICT, which greatly facilitates information exchange, media systems of the states have developed independently for a long time. Until 1991, the media and journalism of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia were built on the basis of similar funding principles, editorial standards and organization systems. But three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, each state’s media systems represent completely different models, the coordination of which requires careful study of the features of their elements. For this purpose at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, the Eurasian Media Studies Center was founded, and its mission is to unite the intellectual potential of the member states to intensify the interaction of the leading centers of journalistic education of the EAEU countries in the field of media studies and training of qualified personnel, as well as to promote the development of the Eurasian dialogue in the media.
The background of the EMSC foundation was the basis of research on media systems, media and journalism of the Soviet republics, and later the post-Soviet states, which for decades was formed by the authors-employees of the faculty. Today, the Center already comprise 7 universities of the Eurasian Economic Union countries, each of which makes its own scientific and informational contribution to the study of the history and current stages of the development of national media systems and a unified information space of the EAEU. Among the partners of Moscow State University are: Belarusian State University, K.Karasayev Bishkek State University, M.L. Gumilyov Eurasian National University Russian-Armenian University in Yerevan, al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Yerevan branch of Moscow State University.
The EMSC is not only the first scientific and educational platform for the interaction of the leading universities of the EAEU countries, but also a research center, which has a rich base for analyzing and assessing the potential of information spaces of the member states. The EAEU of Media Systems, Media and Journalism research library has no analogues in the post-Soviet space and contains materials that can serve as a basis for studying elements and media systems of the EAEU countries, conducting scientific research and development of thematic educational programs, as well as building and promoting the EAEU brand in the global information space and in the member states.
The Eurasian Media Studies Center is open to cooperation, new ideas and initiatives. If you have any questions about the EMSC activities or you would like to discuss the cooperation prospects, please email us at eurasiamsu@gmail.com.
Best regards,
Olga Vikhrova
CEO of EMSC
Faculty of Journalism,
Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Author of the project, PhD in Philology.