The St. Petersburg Union of Journalists is an NGO for professional journalists from St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. This is an independent and self-regulating union of journalists; it has relations of partnership and joint projects with the Russian Union of Journalists. It has existed since 1991 and has 2300 members.

The Union operates on member fee (smaller part) and commercial activities; we do not have any financial support from the state.

The SPUJ is not a trade union; it is a Creative Workers Union. Russian Federation Law does not have a creative worker category; this is a major problem for freelance journalists (as well as other Russian intellectuals who work on their own). In these circumstances the SPUJ fulfils some trade union functions. Other functions include:

1. Medical care
2. Financial assistance
3. Facilities for briefings and press conferences
4. Facilities for recreation with a great discount
5. Free downtown club facilities
6. Professional education facilities (seminars, discussions etc)

Our Union has provided real protection for journalists. Any member can get free advice from a lawyer. The name of the St. Petersburg Union of Journalists is highly respected in our region, which makes possible to address authorities with official requests.

Just like any other organization the SPUJ has its problems. Here we would like to mention two of them:

1. Money: in our profession wages are so small that the average income of a working journalist in our region is about 100 USD a month. This means membership fees are small.
2. Ethics. This problem has two aspects. First, some journalists are so concerned with their financial problems that they are less concerned with serving their readers/listeners/viewers. And second, in modern Russia the term "freedom of the press" has become a synonym for "anything goes". The profession of journalists is making up rules of self-regulation very slowly; this way it is giving up its advantage to the opponents of freedom of the press. Of course, the Constitution and the Media Law protect the freedom of the press in Russia. But views that censorship could be useful for the Russian media are given some credence. Journalists must work out corporate rules or rules will be imposed from outside.