Maksim Nichiporenko: "The ability to work with information is the main thing the University taught me"

What memories do you have of your student years at St Petersburg University? What did you learn during your studies? Which skills were especially useful?

I studied at the Faculty of History at St Petersburg University (today, the Institute of History). Since school, we tend to associate history with having to memorise dates and events. Yet, in fact, history teaches us to think systematically: to build cause-and-effect relationships, pay attention to details, look at a problem from different angles, and analyse it comprehensively. Perhaps, the ability to work with information is the main thing that the University taught me. It does not matter whether we are talking about the past or the present. This skill is essential, in journalism and in press service.

When I recall my student years, the first thing that comes to mind is people. On the one hand, outstanding educators, legends and myths about whom were passed down through generations at the Faculty of History. On the other hand, my groupmates. We are still friends, good relationships. It is really interesting to see what their life is now. Some of them are in science, others chose a teaching career. There are also journalists and representatives of many other professions.

You have experience working as a reporter for the largest Russian News Agency TASS, and as a press secretary for a state-owned company. This gave you the opportunity to be on "different sides of the barricade" in your professional sphere. How does this help you build communication with journalists today?

Even the two largest news agencies. Before TASS, I worked at RIA Novosti. One of the features of such "giants" is that in regional divisions, what you as a reporter specialise in is less relevant. In other words, if a journalist writes about the economy, they can also write about a trial. Another example is that a sports journalist can go to a cultural event. There are many downsides. Yet, there is also a clear advantage. You are constantly developing and learning. Your brain lives and trains. Such versatility, developed in journalism, helps the public communications service to cover the activities of an oil transportation enterprise in a variety of ways: from economic, technological, scientific, and social to name just a few.

Well, understanding interests and tasks of journalists helps to build relationships with them. When I propose an idea for coverage, I try to weigh how attractive it is for a particular publication and how best to present it. Often, together with the editors, we find topics that are especially relevant for them at that moment, important and interesting for us from the point of view of covering the activities of Transneft Baltic. Such synergy gives the best result.

What is the difficulty of the job of a press secretary for the operator of main oil and oil product pipelines? How to talk about the activities of a company that does not need advertising? Why is this necessary? What news to share with an audience that is far from the technical field?

Indeed, the world’s largest company engaged in the transportation of oil and oil products via the pipeline transport system, Transneft and its subsidiary Transneft Baltic do not need traditional "selling" advertising of the services. Yet, it is essential to talk about its contribution to the country’s economy, to ensuring its energy security, to the social development of the regions, and about large-scale charitable programmes. Constant work in the information field is also needed to maintain the image of a technological, environmentally friendly company, an attractive employer.

First of all, we, the public communications service at Transneft Baltic, strive to communicate the importance of the company’s activities in the regions of presence, whose residents encounter our facilities every day. Another task facing several departments at once is attracting new personnel. This is what the public communications service is also responsible for.

The range of topics we strive to cover is quite extensive. This includes information about what the enterprise does to maintain high reliability and safety of production processes while fulfilling tasks of national importance, and about the innovations we are implementing. This is a story about the successes of our employees, about charity and volunteer work to name just a few.

The first difficulty I encountered when I started working here was the abundance of technical information, which cannot be avoided when preparing press releases. Thanks to my fellow engineers, I can understand it, and we find ways to make it understandable to everyone. I can give you an example: presenting information about the performance of the main pumping unit. Sometimes, in press releases or articles, we move away from calculating the flow in cubic metres per hour and give a comparison with the number of railway tanks that it replaces. This tells a wider audience much more about the scale of our activities.

The second is not so much a difficulty as a feature directly related to the first one: to build constructive communications within the enterprise with many departments, primarily technical ones, to explain to colleagues why the work of the public communications service is necessary. Moreover, we must support external communications. Maintaining constant two-way communication with journalists is one of the main tasks.

Recently, you have hosted St Petersburg University journalism students at the line operations control station "Nevskaia" who were planning to take part in a journalism skills competition. For them, getting to know the object was a kind of practice to acquire necessary skills for preparing texts. How do you think the theory and real work differ in journalism now? Perhaps, when you were just starting your career, something in the profession was a surprise for you?

In any activity, theory and practice differ significantly. Theory is the foundation from which a professional will grow in future. Yet, without real experience, this will definitely not happen. Many skills, speed and efficiency, and intuition are acquired in everyday work, including through hard knocks and in communication with colleagues and newsmakers. By the way, this was probably the most vivid experience for me, especially at the beginning of my journalistic career, i.e. the opportunity to ask questions and communicate with interesting people.

What is important to teach future reporters? How can this be achieved? What advice could you give them?

Journalism has taught me to treat information with respect. The price of a mistake in a news agency, whose news can be picked up by many major media outlets, is very high. That is why fact-checking is everything! As is developing communication skills, attending as many media events as possible, communicating with newsmakers and press service representatives. Knowing how to ask a question correctly and get an answer and understanding who you can ask these questions are key skills for a journalist. All this must be multiplied by the efficiency that comes with experience.

Did you find it interesting to communicate with your junior colleagues during the excursion? Would you like to continue sharing your knowledge and accumulated experience with students in this or other formats?

Of course, it is fascinating! I am very pleased that humanities students pay attention to Transneft Baltic. It was obvious that the press tour was a truly extraordinary event for them. I believe that this is the merit of my colleagues: the station’s management, representatives of the enterprise’s management department, who were able to explain something complex in a simple way. And the professional questions asked by the future journalists showed that they, in turn, were preparing for the trip and were not reluctant to study information about our activities. I think this experience was useful for all participants in the event on both sides. Therefore, we would like to continue working with students, especially students at St Petersburg University, in this or another format. At the very least, we are waiting for the results of the contest "Time of new opportunities," and we wish success to its participants.

Do you think that having a degree from St Petersburg University is a sign of quality? In your opinion, are there any qualities that distinguish University graduates from graduates of other higher education institutions?

I think that not even a degree, but a university education as a set of knowledge, skills and way of thinking is a sign of quality. For me personally, the title of a graduate of St Petersburg University is a source of pride and a certain status that you must correspond to.