By the Day of Remembrance of Journalists Who Perished in the Performance of Professional Responsibilities, which is celebrated in Russia on December 15, the Internet media "Cube Media" prepared a series of videos "I am a journalist." In them, well-known representatives of the Russian media share thoughts about the role of journalism in modern society and talk about their colleagues who gave their lives for the truth and freedom of speech.

"For the love of truth"

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT and the Russia Today MIA, spoke about RT Arabic war correspondent Khaled al-Khatib. He died on July 30, 2017, covering the operation of the Syrian army against the militants of the "Islamic State" * in the area of ​​Sushna. In memory of Khaled al-Khatyb, RT established an annual award, which is awarded to war correspondents working in hot spots.

  • Khaled al-Khatib
  • © RT

“I know how scary it is to come to the war and every day, every minute, risk to get a random bullet or a special bullet, or blow up a mine, or be captured with possible horrendous consequences - in order for your report to reach, fly, Your audience saw the broadcast and saw you, ”stressed Margarita Simonyan.

“And every day there are people who go on their first military trip, on their second, on their hundred and first, they die there, and every day there are new ones. Therefore, it is so important on December 15, and on any other day, just to remember the people who died, how Khaled died - for the love of their homeland and for the love of truth. They died for us to find out what is really happening, ”she added.

“They were just doing their job.”

Director General of the Russia Today Agency, Dmitry Kiselev, recalled the deceased photo correspondent of RIA Novosti, Andrei Stenin. On August 6, 2014, in the area of ​​Dmitrovka village near Donetsk, a car in which Andrei was with Donetsk journalists Sergey Korenchenkov and Andrey Vyachalo was shot by servicemen of the 79th separate airmobile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In honor of Andrei Stenin, an international competition of photojournalism was established.

“Andrei specialized in hot spots: military conflicts, street riots and natural disasters,” noted Dmitry Kiselev. “But he did not photograph the blood, nor the destruction, and not the bodies of the dead.” He grabbed emotions: grief, rage, sadness, pity, delight, awe, and a mixture of all of this, and halftones. After all, emotions are the most important thing in us. In the end, it is the emotions that command the thought, and ultimately the action. ”

Voenkor "Komsomolskaya Pravda" Alexander Kots shared personal impressions of the last day of communication with Andrei Stenin:

“I remember the day when the guys from VGTRK were killed. We were in the blocked Slavyansk, in my hotel room, and over and over looked through the scary footage from under Lugansk - Andrew asked them to put them again and again. “What do you want to see there, Andrei?” I asked him. "I want to understand what they did wrong to avoid it in the future." Andrew did not become two months later. We found his remains two weeks after the murder. I stood on this field, where his burnt car was, looked at the traces of the protectors and tried to understand what he did wrong, but, as was the case with Anton Voloshin and Igor Korneluk, I did not find fatal errors. They just did their job. ”

"To the world to know the truth"

Two journalists of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Anton Voloshin and Igor Korneliuk, were killed on June 17, 2014 as a result of a mortar shelling of Ukrainian security officials near Lugansk. As the TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov told, their surnames became an eternal reminder of the “feat of the guys who went to the Donbass to let the world know the truth, and gave their lives for this truth.”

“War correspondents are the salt of the journalistic profession, and probably all journalism is there for them to be. They, who at the cost of their lives, get bits of truth in this ocean of entertainment, fun, information, and sometimes disinformation. Going after the truth, they do not always come back, but they never think about it. These are individual people, the best. And they deserve to live in memory of them, ”the presenter said.

  • A plaque installed on the building of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in Moscow in memory of journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, who died on June 17, 2014 near Lugansk
  • © Evgeny Biyatov / RIA News

First Deputy General Director of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Andrei Kondrashov, in turn, spoke about the circumstances of the death of Anton Voloshin and Igor Kornelyuk.

“On June 17, 2014, they received information that refugees were leaving the areas occupied by the nationalist Ukrainian battalions and going here, in the direction of Lugansk, to those areas that are controlled by the militias. The guys actually removed all the materials, but the journalistic duty made them go to meet people ... There were three volleys: one aimed at the guys, another closer, then there was an adjustment and the shells hit the target. Anton Voloshin collected literally in parts. Igor Kornelyuk died later, already in the hospital. They could not die, but went for the truth, to show it. ”

Living memory

“A man is alive while his memory is alive,” said TV presenter Arkady Mamontov.

The journalist spoke about his two colleagues, whose names are not so well known, but dear to him. One is the cameraman Yevgeny Molchanov, who worked with Mamontov during the capture of the hostages by the Basayev gang in Budennovsk in June 1995 and who died on December 23, 1995 in a car accident near Grozny. The second is a special correspondent for the channel "Russia" Maxim Korzhov. He died in 2005 during a business trip to Baku, where he filmed an investigation into the transit of drugs from Turkmenistan to Russia and Europe.

“He was not baptized and he turned to me literally nine days before the trip, with his fateful, the last one:“ Arkady, christen me. I took him to a monastery near Moscow, baptized him and became his godfather, and he told me - the godmother - remembers Arkady Mamontov. “That’s why I’m responsible for him now, I pray every day that he has everything in the next world well.”

Their names are not forgotten.

The Day of Remembrance for Journalists Died in the Performance of Professional Responsibilities was established in 1991 by the decision of the Russian Union of Journalists in memory of the correspondent of Russian television Viktor Nogin and cameraman Gennady Kurinn who died in September of the same year during the conflict in Yugoslavia.

“During the war in Yugoslavia, two of our colleagues, Gennady Kurinnoy and Viktor Nogin, died while fulfilling their professional duty,” said TASS first deputy general director Mikhail Gusman. - I really want the deaths of dead journalists in the performance of professional duty to be at least much less than this happens. Today, we, their colleagues, should not just honor their memory, we should always remember that our professional duty is to make sure that their names are not forgotten. ”

"A man of amazing character"

Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Russia Vladimir Solovyov remembered how in 1991 he and cameraman Anatoly Klyan had to replace the crew of Viktor Nogin and Gennady Kurinniy. Klyan died on June 30, 2014 near Donetsk, performing his work.

  • Channel One operator Anatoly Klyan
  • © Channel One Press Service / RIA News

“He was a man of amazing character, he could really create such an atmosphere of camaraderie and friendly work,” recalls Vladimir Solovyov. “But I want to say that we all saw Uncle Tolya die.” He was very kind to the technology, his camera, always very keen on the optics and the camera. And these last minutes of his life were also filmed on camera. More than four and a half years ago, near Donetsk in this bus, when a stray bullet hit him in the stomach, the only thing he said: “Camera, I can’t hold a camera.”

"Killed by a treacherous bullet"

The President of the World Association of Russian Press, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Vitaly Ignatenko spoke about the photo reporter Andrei Solovyov, who died in 1993 in Sukhumi during the coverage of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. For courage and bravery in the performance of professional duty, Solovyov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Abkhazia. He was also posthumously awarded the Order "For Personal Courage."

“He could have become a good architect, he graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute, he could become an outstanding photo master. He was killed by a treacherous bullet, fulfilling his professional duty, - said Vitaly Ignatenko. “As long as there are conflicts on earth, terrorism, as long as the journalist will have the honor, professional attitude to his duties, unfortunately, there will be victims in our profession.”

Solidarity without borders

TV presenter Irada Zeynalova recalled the Reuters Ukrainian journalist Taras Protsyuk, who was killed in 2003 by the attack of Baghdad by American troops. The shell of the Abrams tank fired at the window of the Palestine Hotel, where the journalist was.

“The simple glare from its lens, Americans, themselves frightened by what they are doing in the middle of Iraq, was mistaken for a glare, probably a sniper rifle. The Russian journalists who were there tried to give him first aid, they tried to bandage him with everything they had to stop the blood. He did not live, "said Zeynalova.

However, according to her, it is especially bitter because many journalists do not die in war.

“We must remember those who have gained civil courage to challenge the danger even in peacetime,” Zeynalova said.

“He was loved”

One of the examples of such “talented, courageous and uncompromising people”, according to the general producer of the TV channel “Match TV” Tina Kandelaki, was ORT’s first general director Vlad Listyev. On the evening of March 1, 1995, he was killed at the entrance of his own house in Moscow. The murder has not yet been solved.

“Vlad was really loved, in general, this is a unique quality on television. Today it is impossible to even imagine that someone is loved so much. Now you can take over, take off the cream of information, be in trend, have top-rated Twitter, Instagram, Telegram in the top. But it’s impossible to achieve such love of colleagues and viewers, ”Tina Kandelaki emphasized.

* “Islamic State” (IG, ISIL) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.