Dmitry Tugarin, Executive Director of the Russian news and information agency RIA Novosti, today gave a lecture at RIOU's campus detailing the agency's plans for covering the world's key sporting event coming up this winter.

‘In September 2011, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) named RIA Novosti as the host national news agency for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. One of our tasks is facilitating access to the Olympics news materials for Russian media. RIA Novosti has done enormous groundwork to ensure comprehensive coverage of the world's greatest sports celebration, and we are happy to have a chance today to share this unique experience with RIOU students hailing from 14 countries', said Dmitry Tugarin. 

Over 300 RIA Novosti specialists will be involved in covering the 2014 Winter Olympics. In the course of the Games, they are expected to produce more than 150,000 photos and up to 50,000 articles. A special Media Centre will be set up to host journalists who failed to obtain press passes due to the limited number of accreditations. This will provide even small regional media with an access to the most up-to-date information on the Olympic events and Russian athletes.      

‘The Master of Sport Administration (MSA) programme includes a course in sports PR and communications. So, learning about how a major information agency is organising coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics was extremely useful', said Vera Perederii, a RIOU student from Ukraine.

RIOU Rector Professor Lev Belousov thanked Dmitry Tugarin for the highly informative lecture. ‘Now our students have a real understanding of the scale of work being undertaken by the Sochi 2014 host national news agency and photo pool', he said.