By Eric Schwartz, Knight International Journalism Fellow in Russia

Western commentators understandably worry about growing restrictions on press freedom in Russia, but in the eyes of new journalism students in Moscow I see bright signs of hope. At the Moscow newspaper office of Moy Rayon, we are holding journalism classes for about a dozen young students, who exhibit much of the same fire found in journalism students in the United States. They want to find and tell the stories in their neighborhoods. They want to help their society address serious problems that are manifested on the local level. How is a recent murder being investigated? Why is trash in a particular neighborhood such a problem? What is the story behind a never-ending construction project?