The Triple Typology of Divide: Russia’s Journalism Education in the Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected education worldwide, and journalism faculties and students were not exceptions. In the Russian Federation, all educational institutions, including journalism schools, were obliged with 1 day’s notice to switch their classes from regular face-to-face teaching to remote and online formats. The abruptness of this transfer caused a variety of reactions in academic and student communities. This article presents a country-oriented study of how the pandemic affected Russian journalism education. Executives of 15 Russian journalism schools in a geographical spread across the nation evaluate how their faculties and students coped with the classroom shutdowns and discuss both the stressful and motivating practices they have experienced. In brief, they could be described in three typologies: digital, methodological, and communicational. The study uses educational perspectives that could be exercised in the development or renovation of journalism education practices.