By Ed Otte

9News crime and justice reporter Anastasiya Bolton became a journalist because she wanted to tell “other” stories about her native Russia. That desire continues today.

“A famous Russian poet said, ‘Russia is like a swamp. It really sucks you in.’ He meant it in a good way,” Bolton said at the March 20 Fireside Chat at the Denver Press Club. The program was sponsored by the Colorado Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Bolton immigrated to the United States at 17 and, she said, “In college I remember seeing negative coverage of the Russian economy. Stories about long lines of people waiting to get toilet paper. Nothing about the people, the culture and their passion. What they like to eat. I always liked to talk, so in my junior year I changed my major to broadcast news.

“I wanted to tell those other stories.”

After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Bolton worked at TV stations in Dallas, Amarillo and Tyler, Texas, and Birmingham, Ala. “You make mistakes at smaller stations until you get to a bigger market where you can make a livable wage. My last job before Denver was Birmingham and it was interesting to learn about the South.”

One of the major stories she covered, and helped her get a job at 9News, was Hurricane Katrina. It bolstered her resume and it was also an on-the-job educational experience.

“I didn’t know enough during my Katrina coverage to do good stories. I wasn’t good enough. I had to learn how to get people to talk to me with that thing (camera) rolling.”

The Fireside Chat was taped by Denver Channel 8 and will be broadcast at a later date. Bolton declined to discuss the events in Ukraine on camera because, as a reporter, she didn’t want to express political opinions.

One of Bolton’s recent assignments was covering the Sochi Olympics with two other 9News reporters.

“I can’t say a negative thing (about the games),” she said. “I think Russia did a wonderful job putting it on. I’m here now so I wasn’t blown up. And that was a concern. Before going there, I was scared. Channel 9 was very restrictive in what we could do. We stayed inside the ring of steel, so to speak.”

In response to a plumbing question, Bolton said, “No, I never saw brown water. The only thing that happened that was annoying was a sewer smell from the bathroom. And they fixed it.”

Her favorite Olympics story was about the patriotic atmosphere at Sochi.

“When I grew up, patriotism was shoved down your throats. So, for the longest time I doubted that Russians were really patriotic. I thought Americans were pro-country. But Russians are really patriotic. It comes from the depths of their souls. Even with the problems there.”

The “most fun” Sochi story was about food.

“Root vegetables was what we ate a lot because that was all we could get in the winter,” she said about her childhood years in Moscow. One day during the Olympics, “reporters sat at a long table and we ordered a lot of food. And we got to eat it. There is a silly picture of me holding a bowl of borscht and I was smiling like a three-year-old.”

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