The 34th “Press Ball” opened in Moscow in honor of Russian Press Day

On Thursday, January 18, the annual 34th “Press Ball” opened in a fashionable hotel in the center of Moscow, timed to coincide with the professional holiday of journalists – Russian Press Day.

The gala reception, organized by the Moscow Union of Journalists, was attended by famous government officials, representatives of various ministries and departments, heads of federal and capital media, “golden feathers” of Russia, military personnel, doctors, and builders.

Among the guests of honor of the holiday: State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Nikolai Pankov, Deputy Director of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Alexey Vorobyov, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the Commission on Information Policy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Alexey Pushkov, Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, Academician Alexander Ginzburg, General Director of Moscow Metrostroy Sergei Zhukov, heads of departments of the Moscow government.

And, of course, at the press festival, the main characters are the heads of leading media outlets and representatives of the journalistic community: Chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists, editor-in-chief of MK Pavel Gusev, Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Russia Vladimir Solovyov, Secretary of the SJM Lyudmila Shcherbina, Editor-in-Chief of Evening Moscow » Alexander Kupriyanov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Arguments and Facts” Mikhail Chkanikov and others.

The main honors this year go to journalists covering the course of a special military operation. In the category “Guardian of Peace and Prosperity,” awards to war correspondents will be presented by representatives of the Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs, and the National Guard.

The Press Ball was opened by the first deputy head of the Moscow Department of Media and Advertising, Yulia Kazakova, who read out a message from the mayor of the capital Sergei Sobyanin. In it, in particular, he thanked the journalists for covering grandiose events in the life of Moscow, emphasizing that the capital is the center of the domestic media space. In his message, the mayor expressed confidence that the capital’s journalists will continue to have many interesting stories, and Muscovites will have good news.

The Chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets Pavel Gusev delivered a welcoming speech.

He began his speech by saying that the coming year is very important for our country: “This is the election of the President of Russia, and, I am sure, this is a victory for the Russian Armed Forces in the Northern Military District, it will be.”

Pavel Nikolaevich spoke about the professional achievements of Moscow journalists over the past year, including those who were awarded orders, medals and honorary titles in accordance with the Decree of the President of Russia (61 people in total), as well as prizes from the Russian government and the Moscow mayor’s office at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.

The editor-in-chief of “MK” listed the main results of the past year, including the implemented projects for the improvement of Moscow and the development of capital transport, which were covered by the press, as well as the opening of the grandiose exhibition “Russia” at VDNKh. He also mentioned the important events that took place in the life of the capital’s media: the holding of educational and practical courses “Bastion” for journalists working in crisis situations, the Metropolitan Press Festival on Poklonnaya Hill (together with the Moscow Department of Media and Advertising) and others . Pavel Gusev spoke about honoring anniversaries in 2023 – famous journalists and creative groups, including the newspaper “Evening Moscow” (it turned 100 years old), “Red Star” (100 years old), the magazine “Smena (100 years old), “Arguments and facts” (45 years) and other publications.

In November 2023, the 9th Congress of the Moscow Union of Journalists was held, where it was decided to join the Union of Journalists of Russia. “New people have come to the SJM presidium, we will decide the fate of our creative organization,” said Pavel Gusev. “But all this is ahead, and today we will congratulate the laureates and heroes of the day.” He also proposed to honor the memory of his colleagues, outstanding journalists, who passed away in 2023, including Eduard Sagalayev (National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters), Lev Kolodny (MK), Olga Kuchkina (Komsomolskaya Pravda) and others. The audience honored their memory with a minute of silence.