INSTID’s Natalia Leshchenko on the hiring of a US pr agency by Abkhazia and South Ossetia @Vam Slovo BBC Russia

Back to studio 29A. On 13 August I was invited as an expert to the BBC Russian phone-in programme Vam Slovo to discuss the hiring of a U.S. PR agency by separatist Georgian republics. The programme hit a nerve, as the discussion lasted longer than anticipated, and the producers scrapped another topic they had prepared for the show. It was hard to stay away from the discussion of Russia-Georgia’s military conflict, as many callers would express their view on in, but the presenter was good to keep the focus on the PR aspect, so we talked about the U.S., Belarus, Russia altogether. The debate was  engaging (funny that only men called in, but I was told later that’s the usual case), at times with people calling back to return a point. Being fully alert and concentrated for an hour to engage in a heated debate and produce arguments every minute was a good challenge, but it felt very gratifying. The presenter and producers were also pleased in the end saying ours turned out one of the most engaging shows of recent.