Soviet Begins Year As Nieman Fellow

The first Soviet journalist ever awarded a Nieman fellowship will arrive at Harvard within the next week for a year-long stay, said Nieman Curator William Kovach.

Journalist Vladimir Voina, an editor of USA magazine in Moscow, has not decided which courses he will take under the Nieman auspices.

The Nieman Foundation offers fellowships to leading journalists from around the world to allow them to study at Harvard for a year.

Voina was selected because he has been a prominent journalist in the Soviet Union for years, said Kovach. "He's been a journalist of great integrity for some time in a system where that was not necessarily rewarded," he said.

The 53-year-old Voina is chief of the economics, politics and ideology department of USA magazine. He is credited with exposing weaknesses in the Soviet system, often writing about consumer affairs.

"Voina has been described by American journalists as a practioner of glasnost before glasnost became public policy," Kovach said.

In addition to writing articles, Voina has translated several books into Russian and written a number of his own books, according to a Nieman Foundation statement.

Although Voina was awarded a fellowship so that he could sample the University's offerings, Kovach said Voina's classmates could learn a good deal about Soviet journalism and life from his presence.

Kovach also said he thought the Soviet's ability to study abroad signified increased openness brought about by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev's policy of glasnost.

"I think it's an indication of the impact this free flow of information is having around the world," Kovach said. "The Soviet Union is opening up."

The journalist's arrival was delayed a week because of difficulties with his passport, but Kovach said he thinks Voina will not have any difficulty entering the country.

"I think it's just bureaucratic confusion, not any real problem," the curator said.

Voina's fellowship was supported in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Nieman statement said.

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