Covering Putin's Russia: Anton Troianovski '04

Anton Troianovski '04 spoke to students, faculty, and staff during assembly on Friday, January 27, about his work as the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.

After briefly reminiscing about his days in the old Haertter Hall and working on The World, he spoke about his experiences working as a journalist in Russia since January 2018 and how that work has changed since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. 

Anton, who was born in Russia and spent his earliest years in southwestern Germany, moved to St. Louis when he was 8 years old. He said that his experience "as a kid from somewhere else" helped him develop many of the skills he would need as a journalist when encountering situations that were totally different from his past.

"I think that's one of the lessons I took away from Burroughs, that we are in a community where we're all different but we come together around some shared values," he said, adding that many of his classroom and extracurricular experiences at Burroughs helped prepare him for his eventual career as a foreign correspondent.

Before the bell rang, Anton fielded questions from students and faculty about journalist safety, tips for developing media literacy, and, finally, his predictions for the role of artificial intelligence in reporting. Following the assembly, Anton stayed in Haertter Hall to continue the conversation with students during first period.

He also spoke to approximately 300 members of the Burroughs community on Thursday, January 26, where he enjoyed a mini-reunion with fellow members of the class of 2004. Click here to watch his entire presentation from Thursday evening.