Lecture of the "7x7" editor about the radio reporting Maxim Polyakov, which he had to read under Lectures on the grass, had to be postponed for several times – according to the organizers, the reason was the pressure of the regional Ministry of Press and Mass Communications.
According to information on the official page of the lecture in VKontakte, originally it was planned to take place in the art gallery "Viktor Ivanov, and the land of Ryazan" – a traditional place in the park had to be abandoned because of the rainy weather, and then – in the cafe-club "Old Park". Organizer of Lectures on the grass, the chief editor of «7x7» Sofia Krapotkina, citing an anonymous source reported: a regional officer of the Ministry of Press and Mass Communications, presumably - Deputy Minister Ivan Ushakov, urged the administration of the cafe to abandon the event.
Correspondent of "7x7" tried to get a comment of the head of the Ministry of Press and Mass Communications Olga Chulyaeva, but she was not available, since, according to the secretary, "she was at the meeting", one of her deputies was on vacation, and the other was also at the meeting. "7x7" sent official request to the ministry e-mail to comment on the situation.
As a result, the organizers have decided to hold a lecture at Central Recreation and Leisure Park, even though it was expected to rain in the evening.
Reporter Maxim Polyakov worked on the radio in Vorkuta and Syktyvkar for seven years. In 2008 he was recognized as the best radio journalist at the festival "Together — Radio", and then worked for the Foundation for Independent Radio Broadcasting, where he supervised educational programs for journalists and radio editors. He visited several foreign radio festivals and media forums, where he participated in the discussion of the best radio programs and podcasts of foreign colleagues.
'Radio in Europe and America differs from the Russian. There are a lot of author's programs with reportage fragments in addition to the news and songs. Journalists are looking for interesting stories about people and events that take voice recorders and microphones and record heroes. The air is built of these stories, sketches and programs. Amazing, sometimes tragic or funny stories of people. Although, in fairness, I note that the Russian journalists are trying to catch up with foreign counterparts and also make interesting podcasts. These are the programs we hear during the next meeting.'
Lectures on the grass is a nonprofit project that has been in Ryazan since 2011. During this time, its speakers were professors of the Higher School of Economics – historians Vadim Damier and Dmitry Timohin, politicians Grigory Lukyanov and Sophia Rogozina, Forbes columnist Boris Grozovsky, publisher Boris Kupriyanov. Theater critic Pavel Rudnev, orientalist Maxim Gamaliy, sociologist Dmitry Zayats, media consultant Alexander Amzin and others.
