Russian – American Reporting Exchange
Kicks off National Tour
Photo: Denis Klimentov/Internews
The team of young TV news reporters from Russia
tours New York City.
(August 24, 2006, New York, NY) – Downtown Community Television Center
(DCTV) and its partners, Internews Russia and Internews Network, teamed
up to create a reporting exchange called The Russians Are Coming.
Unlike the invaders in the 1966 movie comedy with the same name, these
Russians are not cold warriors but five of Russia’s most promising young
TV news reporters. This time around they aren’t coming by submarine—the
reporters are traveling in style in the DCTV Cybercar bus — a 40-foot
long high-tech mobile production unit featuring a Times Square-style
video wall on its side. Inside is a state of the art television studio
and master control room. Atop, is a powerful KU-band satellite dish
that can digitally transmit around the world.
In order to learn about the US and in order for Americans to learn about
today’s Russia, the Cybercar and its inquisitive cargo are traveling
to seven towns and cities. The tour began August 20th in New York City
and will continue for two weeks. Communities to be visited include:
NYC: exploring NY as a city of immigrants in the Brighton
Beach, Lower East Side, and Chinatown neighborhoods Hamburg, PA: meeting the mayor and
local businesses of small town America Whitesburg, KY: discovering cultural
events and life in Appalachia New Orleans, LA: attending the one-year
commemorative services of Hurricane Katrina Colesville, NJ: experiencing rural
America Bridge Hampton, NY: celebrating American Labor Day traditions.
Photo: Denis Klimentov/Internews
The trip concludes back in NYC with an appearance on the CBS morning
show as the Russians play highlights of their American adventure on the
side of the Cybercar.
Through face-to-face reporting and town meetings across America, The
Russians Are Coming project will connect Americans and Russians
in a unique and newsworthy manner. The Russians will show films that
they have made about their lives and life in Russia on the Cybercar
screen. Town meetings will be organized around these events so Russians
and Americans can begin to dialogue. The Russians will also explore
the towns they visit, and make films to bring back to their home country.
Jon Alpert, director of the project, says, “This is exciting person-to-person
communication and a very effective use of television. It should be a
lot of fun.”
This is a joint project of Downtown Community Television Center, the
most honored independent media center in the United States; Internews
Russia, and Internews Network, organizations working to improve access
to information for people around the world by fostering independent media.
ABOUT THE CYBERCAR
The Cybercar has been successful in advancing community-building
endeavors in three other tours. Main Street USA was a 2002 initiative
that traveled around America touring twelve main streets from cities
from Tennessee and Arkansas to Mississippi and Illinois. Through town
meetings, Main Street USA showed tapes DCTV recorded at Ground Zero,
in Afghanistan and Iraq, and took the pulse of our country on the second
anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center. Speak Up NY! was
an enormously successful youth-focused project that achieved an Emmy®
Award, a Telly Award, an Aurora Award for encouraging youth from 26 cities
to participate in the gubernatorial election in the Fall of 2002. Over
2,000 young new voters were registered through this initiative Speak
Up NY! was broadcast on every New York PBS station on October 30th, just
days before the election. Most recently, the Cybercar was utilized for
the Bullets in the Hood Anti-Gun Violence Tour, a three-week, grassroots
initiative that took place in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut.
This cross-community program engaged hundreds of youth, members of their
communities, teachers, and law enforcement officials in critical dialogue
about gun violence. Screenings of Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story
encouraged vulnerable youth to open up and talk about the issues of gun
violence on their own streets. Currently, a fall 2006 tour is being
planned.
ABOUT DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY TELEVISION CENTER
Founded in 1972, DCTV has fostered a diverse and inclusive media
arts community for 35 years. DCTV pursues its educational mission by
introducing members of the community, including inner-city youth and
producers with disabilities, to the basics of electronic media through
hundreds of free or low-cost production courses each year, and by providing
access to broadcast-quality production equipment and editing facilities.
Rooted in humble beginnings, DCTV’s grassroots filmmaking philosophy
remains strong and has attracted more than 50,000 students since opening
its doors. Also a producing entity, DCTV productions have been widely
broadcast on major networks worldwide (including HBO, PBS, and Discovery
Times in the past year alone) and have received 13 National Emmys, 2
National Student Emmys, DuPont-Columbia Awards, Peabody Awards, and every
other major prize in the broadcast field. Its current production for
HBO, Baghdad E.R., has been nominated for six Prime
Time Emmy Awards.
Internews Network, Inc.,
Internews Network, Inc., formed in 1982, is a 501(c)(3) organization
incorporated in California. It is a founding member of Internews International,
whose members have worked in 70 countries countries worldwide, making
information on a wide range of topics more accessible by fostering
independent media and promoting open communications policies. Its programs
are built on the premise that access to vibrant, diverse news and information
empowers people to make their voices heard and to participate more
effectively in their communities.
For more information please contact, Shannon Sonenstein at 212-966-4510 ext. 247.
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DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510 x247 www.dctvny.org
