When an Open World delegation of six Russian journalists arrived in the United States in October, they might have felt as if they hadn’t left home — at least if they read the "Welcome to St. Petersburg" sign. The delegates had traveled from St. Petersburg to St. Petersburg — that is, from St. Petersburg, Russia, to St. Petersburg, FL.

The October 2003 trip to the Sunshine State focused on the topic "Journalism in Today’s World." It was organized by the Open World Leadership Center as part of its ongoing participation in the joint 300/100 Anniversary Celebration of the two "St. Petes," as they are so called: St. Petersburg, Russia, celebrating its 300th year, and St. Petersburg, FL, celebrating its 100th. An important purpose of the exchange was to enable emerging young media leaders from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region to meet some of their American counterparts.

Members of the October media delegation represented a wide range of news outlets, including the Ekho Moskvy radio station, the Komsomolskaya Pravda and Delo newspapers in St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg TV and Radio Company, and the Literaturnaya Gazeta weekly. One of the delegates, a videojournalist, was gathering footage for a documentary entitled Two St. Petersburgs. The visit built upon two earlier high-level Open World rule of law exchanges between the two cities.

St. Petersburg College, the local host, and the Academy for Educational Development, the national host, organized the visit, and kept the delegates busy with a variety of professional activities to address their range of interests.

Significant time was spent meeting with journalists and editors at local media outlets, such as Bay News 9 TV, and the St. Petersburg Times. The world-renowned Poynter Institute for Media Studies also welcomed the delegation.

One of the highlights of the trip was a meeting with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker. Mayor Baker presented each member of the delegation with an autographed copy of his book Mangroves to Major League — A Timeline of St. Petersburg, Florida (Pre-History to 2000 A.D.).

"It was an honor to meet with the Russian journalists here in St. Petersburg, Florida, just a few months after I returned from my own delegation's visit to St. Petersburg, Russia," said Mayor Baker. "The visit was one of the many significant exchanges we were fortunate to participate in with our Twin City in 2003 as both of our cities jointly hosted anniversary celebrations."

Dr. Carl Kuttler, Jr., President of St. Petersburg College and a driving force in bringing the two cities closer together, said, "Open World serves as a world-recognized leader in the effort to establish a twin-city relationship between St. Petersburg, Russia, and St. Petersburg, Florida. Through Open World, the two cities continue to learn about each other and implement each other’s best ideas."

Published by The PBN Company for the Open World Leadership Center, whose Open World Program has hosted nearly 9,000 citizens from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan since its inception in 1999. The Center is an independent legislative branch agency that works cooperatively with the U.S. Department of State and other U.S. executive and judicial branch agencies. For additional information, please visit the Open World Leadership Center's website at www.openworld.gov or contact the office at +1 202-707-8943.