From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

Vitali Ignatenko vividly remembers the day four years ago when the lives of Soviet journalists changed dramatically. Soon after taking office, Mikhail Gorbachev displayed his new style by delivering a speech live on Soviet television. "We realized that we had reached a new period," Ignatenko recalls. "It was the first step into the era of glasnost."

As editor in chief of the Soviet foreign affairs weekly New Times, Ignatenko, 48, has since taken many steps into that new era. Three months ago, for example, the magazine (circ. 600,000) published the first Soviet press interview ever with Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.

Last fall World editor Jim Kelly spent two weeks in the Soviet Union as a guest of New Times. We recently reciprocated by inviting Ignatenko to visit TIME's U.S. operation. As it turned out, we asked him nearly as many questions about his job as he asked about how an American newsmagazine is put together. We learned, for example, that Ignatenko has a telephone in his office that connects him directly to top officials -- and vice versa. "Gorbachev personally hasn't phoned me," Ignatenko says, "but he knows all the editors on a first-name basis and meets with us regularly."

Ignatenko was especially intrigued by TIME's design, and consulted with graphics editor Nigel Holmes about sharpening the look of New Times. Ignatenko took particular interest in TIME's meticulous efforts to check facts. "With glasnost, Soviet journalists now have even more responsibility to be accurate," he explains. "Let's say we write something that is incorrect about one of the nationalities in the republics. That could cause a serious disturbance."

Ignatenko spent four days in Miami with bureau chief James Carney, who speaks Russian. He met Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez, toured the building of the Miami Herald -- and squeezed in a few hours on the beach. We urged him to stay longer, but he had to fly home to Moscow to prepare for another trip. His destination: Beijing, where he arrives this week to plan coverage of the Sino- Soviet summit.