"This is the most representative delegation of Russian media that has visited the Philippines in both Soviet and Russian history. We see a great interest of Philippine media in cooperation with their colleagues from our country, and the educational component plays an extremely high role in this cooperation," deputy minister Alexey Volin said.
During the visit, the delegation met with the heads of leading Philippine media outlets and watchdogs. The sides discussed information cooperation; the fight against fake news; as well as creation of joint media products, animated films and television shows. They also focused on media coverage of efforts to combat drug trafficking, including joint activities in this area.
In addition, Rossiya Segodnya's head of international cooperation, Vasily Pushkov, held a meeting with journalism students of Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila as part of the SputnikPro project. He told them about the international news agency's work and discussed with them trends in global media and Internet regulation.
"We had a productive afternoon with our lively and frank discussion with Mr. Pushkov in UST. His exposition of different media ecosystems allowed our students to compare and contrast with our Western-influenced journalistic culture," Felipe Salvosa, a coordinator of the journalism program at the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, said.
Founded in the 17th century by Spain’s Dominican missionaries, Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas is one of the leading Philippine educational institutes and the oldest one on Asia. To date, it has more than 30,000 students and about 2,000 teachers. The journalism department of the university is ranked among top three training centers for journalists in the Philippines.
SputnikPro is an international project for journalists, students and press workers designed to exchange expertise with foreign colleagues, develop international media communications and intercultural ties between journalists.