Armed forces, journalists forming new info model – minister

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 18, 2005 Tuesday 12:28 PM Eastern Time

Armed forces, journalists forming new info model – minister

MOSCOW

The Russian armed forces and journalists are forming a new
information model based on maximum openness and constructive
partnership, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a Tuesday
reception for Russian media’s military writers. The reception was
held on the occasion of the Russian Press Day.

“More than 11,000 journalists were accredited for covering the army
life last year,” the minister said. About 900 representatives of the
federal media visited army units stationed in conflict zones and
areas of peacekeeping operations, including 600 in Chechnya, Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, over 160 in Tajikistan, over 100 in Armenia and 16
in Sierra Leone.

The Press Club, working trips to military unit locations, foreign
visits, briefings and press conferences provide for direct dialog
between defense ministry officials and the press, he said. More than
15,000 articles on military development and armed forces routine were
published in the federal press last year.