Позитивные изменения. Том 4, №1 (2024). Positive changes. Volume 4, Issue 1 (2024)

To elevate the communications of nuclear cities to a new qualitative level, the “Media Station” educational program was launched in the autumn of 2023. This media project accelerator involved teams from 22 cities where the corporation is present. Representatives of city administration press services, industry enterprises, the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, and journalists from city media spent four months learning and creating their media projects “at the same table” — in the format of media (communication) teams. Each media team includes representatives from different organizations working in the same city.

“Our communicators on the ground often lack horizontal connections — each is struggling in a sea of information on their own. Another issue has been the corporation’s lack of joint event info-planning with the cities until recently, meaning everyone was independently managing their agenda. Content quality is also a problem: cities still have a lot of dreary, protocol-heavy officialese; ‘glossing over’ problems instead of substantively addressing negativity… Meanwhile, the residents of nuclear cities form a vast audience — over 2 million people we consider part of our nuclear family, even though not all of them work in the industry,” explains Andrey Timonov, head of Rosatom State Corporation’s Communications Department.

He notes that nuclear cities are in need of specialists — not just new employees for the enterprises themselves but also doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs. “It is important for us to listen to the residents of nuclear cities, and for them to hear us. Thus, we are serious about developing the communication infrastructure in cities in the long run. It was crucial for us to immediately define target indicators, understand how we measure them, and assess their effectiveness. A tool like this did not exist in the industry before. So we had to invent it,” he says.

The 225 media accelerator participants received weekly knowledge through practical workshops from leading media, crisis communications experts, and digital analysts. In the time between modules, under the guidance of mentors — journalists, media experts, and public opinion leaders, each team applied the acquired knowledge and ultimately created media products, which were pitched to potential clients at the final strategy session. These came from either local administrations or Rosatom enterprises in the cities. Some projects received financial support, and virtually all projects received expert and administrative support.

As a result of the media accelerator, a regular information planning system was established with the involvement of local communications specialist teams in 22 cities; the media network of cities was digitized (237 social media publics and Telegram channels, and 23 websites); content on information occasions significant to the corporation (texts, photos, and audio materials) was created and placed on various media platforms, ensuring an audience reach of over 1.2 million people. Additionally, with the involvement of experts, recommendations for further improving the information planning system in the cities of presence were formulated.

It was crucial for us to immediately define target indicators, understand how we measure them, and assess their effectiveness. A tool like this did not exist in the industry before. So we had to invent it.

As part of the accelerator implementation, Russia’s youngest closed nuclear city in the Penza region launched the beta version of the “Discover Zarechny” website, which offers a virtual tour of the city and information on vacancies from companies and government institutions. As the project authors note, it serves as a tool for finding and attracting workers to Zarechny’s enterprises. Meanwhile the satellite town of Beloyarsk NPP in the Sverdlovsk region launched a Telegram channel called “Medical Unit No. 32” — an information resource for local residents, containing current information on medical services available to the population.

THE COMMUNICATION COMPETENCY INDEX FOR MEDIA TEAMS: PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

As previously noted, various actors conduct communication activities in nuclear cities. How does one find a comprehensive approach for evaluating their work, skill levels, and competencies? To address this challenge and formulate systemic recommendations for enhancing communication efforts and defining a development trajectory, the Media Teams Communication Competency Index (CCI) was developed.

Communication Competency Index is a comprehensive indicator that reflects the communication capabilities (strength, competency, resourcefulness) of media teams in nuclear cities.