Andrew Kazakov visited the Syracuse, NY, area during January of 1999, as a guest of the International Center of Syracuse. During his month-long stay, he visited several media-related businesses, including WIXT TV NewsChannel 9. We are the ABC television network affiliate serving much of Upstate New York.

I am Executive Producer of Special Programming at NewsChannel 9... working with all departments in coverage of parades, telethons, special news programming and other special events. Over nearly twenty years at the station, I have worked in many capacities, including news reporter, sports anchor, sales marketing director and more. (In that, I believe my career experiences have been similar to his.) During Andrew's three-day stay at the station, I served as his host... talking at length about the differences and similarities between television in our two countries. I also coordinated his visits with other departments, including News, Engineering, Commercial Production and Promotion.

I found Andrei to be intelligent, friendly, cooperative, and creative. I had a chance to watch a sample of video production work, and was quite impressed. The quality of work was at least on par with our own work, and in some cases better. The reports I got back from other departments were much the same... everyone enjoyed talking with him, and sharing his views of American television.

There were some communications problems, as Andrei gamely worked to understand our industry inside terms. But I found him very willing to work with me on that... and was impressed that he never let language barriers frustrate or bother him. (And in most cases, his English was quite good.)

I have served as an adjunct professor of broadcast journalism at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University for several years. In that capacity, I've taught dozens of students, including international students. I feel that Andrei Kazakov would excel in our programs, and am quite sure he would be a valuable addition to any class.