From 13 to 17 May 2025, the Third Russian-Belarusian Forum of Student Media ‘Media Industry’ was held at Pskov State University (PSU). The Belarusian National Technical University was represented by Yaroslav Bazhko, Deputy Chairman of the BNTU Student Council, Daria Velichko, Chairwoman of the Youth Wing of the Belarusian Women's Union Daria Velichko, Deputy Chair of the Student Council of the Faculty of Engineering and Pedagogy Yana Myslivets, and videographer of the BNTU Media Centre Vsevolod Vyunkov. All three days, the students worked actively on their projects to present them to the expert jury.
The official programme of the forum began on 14 May with the distribution of participants into teams and familiarisation with the task. This was followed by a grand opening ceremony attended by Olga Timofeeva, Deputy Governor of the Pskov Region, Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and Sergey Nikolaev, Acting Rector of Pskov State University.
The first day continued with a panel discussion on the topic ‘A shared heroic past – a common future.’ The speakers were Tatyana Khrishkevich, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian and World History at Pskov State University, Natalya Isakova, Director of the State Archives of the Pskov Region, and Vitalina Petrusevich, Editor of the Television Programme Preparation Department at TRK Mogilev and representative of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union.
This was followed by a dialogue platform entitled ‘Digital Culture and Media: Challenges of the Modern Age,’ which was conducted by Nadezhda Lishchenko, head of the Pskov State University educational programme ‘Advertising and Public Relations’ and curator of the project ‘Youth Media Holding of the Pskov Region “No Statute of Limitations,”’ Nadezhda Lishchenko, and Maxim Khodykin, press secretary of the chairman of the board of the First Movement and lecturer at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
The first day ended with teams presenting their ideas and project scenarios to experts.
The second day of the forum began with a dialogue platform entitled ‘High Technologies in Media’ with the participation of Victoria Zaretskaya, Deputy Director for Project Management and VR/AR Teacher at the Quantorium Pskov Children's Technopark, and Alexander Gukov, an expert in media management, data analytics, and the integration of artificial intelligence tools. In addition, the day's programme included a dialogue platform entitled ‘How to write interestingly: finding topics, text structure and fact-checking’ with Alexei Semenov, editor-in-chief of TASS for the North-West Federal District.
The final events of the day were an excursion to the cities of Izborsk and Pechory, as well as work on a team assignment.
The programme for the final day was filled with excursions and the presentation of projects to the members of the expert commission. The latter included:
The closing ceremony of the forum marked the end of the productive work of its participants. During the ceremony, those present enjoyed a concert by a music group and summed up the results of all three days.
The team that included Yaroslav Bazhko took second place with their project video Echoes of War and longread Union in the Frame, the main idea of which is the importance of preserving the memory of heroes who sacrificed their future for the sake of future generations.
We would like to thank the organisers and all participants of the forum, and congratulate Yaroslav Bazhko's team on their prize-winning place!
