U.S. Study Tour for Baltic Journalists

During times when the world is more interconnected than ever, international news coverage is sadly in decline. This decline coincides with a time when, because of rapidly changing technologies and digital disruption of the media business model, media organizations have been undercut by shrinking budgets and loss of staff. Consequently, the opportunity for overseas assignments and opportunities are becoming rarer -- but they are more necessary than ever.   

The U.S. study tour for Baltic journalists provided such an opportunity for six journalists – two from each of the Baltic countries. They went on a nine-day study tour, visiting Washington, DC, New York City and Chicago. The program exposed participants and their audiences to the life and culture of their countries’ U.S. diaspora. Additionally, it allowed Baltic journalists to meet their U.S. counterparts and examine the state of U.S. media
 
The goal was to forge lasting relationships between Baltic journalists and members of their countries’ U.S. diaspora, and to give Baltic journalists a better understanding of U.S. life and culture that they could share with their audiences.

After the conclusion of the trip, the group produced a documentary film that addresses the issues mentioned above. An emphasis was given to highlighting new or emerging voices and people from historically marginalized communities.

Meet the Participants:

Aleksander Algo became a full-time staff member of the Estonian outlet Delfi in January of 2021. He started off writing album reviews for one of Delfi’s culture outlets and producing one of Delfi's music-related YouTube shows. From there he went on to become a full-fledged video journalist – a role which he has adapted to and grown to love. Algo has covered elections, the war in Ukraine, and illegal street racing in Tallinn, among other topics. He is currently completing a journalism degree at Tallinn University.

Priit Simson has worked at Estonian news outlets Eesti Päevaleht, Postimees and Delfi since 1997. He has been working as a cameraman at Delfi for ten years – recording reports, programs, interviews and live broadcasting. He also has experience in sound engineering, directing and location scouting.

Aistė Čiučiurkaitė is a journalist at national radio station, Žinių radijas, and 15min.lt. She is also a presenter on the YouTube channel Laisvės TV. In 2016, she obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism at Vilnius University as well as a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea. Currently, she is a student at Vilnius University for a master's in international politics and media.

While in Korea, Čiučiurkaitė started doing reports on Lithuanian national radio and researched food politics in South Korea for Lithuanian myth busters food magazine VMG. Last year, she created her own news show for 15min.lt, where she interviews relevant guests. She has attended events with the General Assembly of Communication and Journalism and the Council of the European Union to discuss journalism issues in Europe. 

Aivaras Žydelis is a camera operator, working in news media for nearly ten years. After secondary school, Žydelis lived in Ireland, Dublin, for eight years where he received his media production degree. In 2013, ŽydelisI returned to Lithuania and began working as a camera operator for Lrytas TV, one of the country’s main TV channels.

He collaborated on a short documentary about a city called Utena. It won a golden award in the International Awards for Livable Communities in Xiamen, China in 2013. In 2016, Žydelis took part in the Olympics in Rio, Brazil, as one of the main camera operators for the Lrytas TV crew.

For the past four years, Žydelis has worked at the second largest Lithuanian news channel 15min as a video/audio studio head manager, doing podcasts, talk shows, documentaries and many more projects. 

Ieva Varna is a doctoral student of political science at Riga Stradins University. She received a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy from Riga Stradins University and a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication science from the University of Latvia. 

Varna is a seasoned journalist with nearly a decade of experience as a foreign and local policy analyst at the Latvian television station, TV3 Latvia. She has covered the war in Ukraine since December 2021, various topics related to the European Union, transatlantic relations and U.S. foreign policy. 

Sergejs Medvedevs has worked as a cameraman for documentaries and television news for over 12 years. In his spare time, he likes to play vinyl records in Riga clubs. Medvedevs enjoys working in television and the opportunity that it provides to convey deeper thought to the viewer.