FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO MEDIA IN RUSSIA Europe and Russia in the Media Center

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO MEDIA IN RUSSIA Europe and Russia in the Media Center Jacqueline Olich, Ph.D. Associate Director, UNC Center fo...
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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO MEDIA IN RUSSIA Europe and Russia in the Media Center

Jacqueline Olich, Ph.D. Associate Director, UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies

“When it comes to media freedom, Russia has been ranked alongside Burma, Cuba, and North Korea by international organisations as one of the most dangerous zones for journalists outside of Iraq.” --POLIS Working Paper, “Media and Democracy in Russia” (October 2007 )

“In terms of media-related legislation, Russia is a rather free and democratic country. The other thing is that the practice of applying this legislation does not always comply with its letter and spirit.” --Gennady Kudy, Head of the Print Media Department of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, quoted in IREX’s Media and Sustainability Index Europe and Eurasia 2008

The Yeltsin Era (1991-1999) During Boris Yeltsin’s nine years in office, new radio stations, television companies, and newspapers emerged in Russia Yeltsin did not publicly abuse journalists or demand censorship

“During Yeltsin’s times the public atmosphere was relatively pro-freedom, and this inspired journalists to launch ‘Echo of Moscow’, NTV, the publishing house ‘Kommersant’, etc. As soon as the political atmosphere changed seven years ago, a completely different journalism began to emerge. Traditions of Soviet Propaganda are being restored.” --Oleg Panilov, the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, quoted in IREX’s Media and Sustainability Index Europe and Eurasia 2008

Putin and the Media restricted the access of journalists to Chechnya signed the Information Security Doctrine (2000) revived the Soviet tradition of meeting with the heads of television and newspaper companies to instruct them about government policy and direct their reporting signed an amendment to the extremism law (July 2006), broadening the definition of extremism to include the media criticism of public officials (green light to imprisonment of journalists)

There are more than 400 daily newspapers, catering for every taste and persuasion. The major nationals are based in Moscow, but many readers in the regions prefer to take local papers. Several influential dailies have been bought by companies with close links to the Kremlin. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/ 1102275.stm

For most Russians, television, especially via the national networks, is the main source of domestic and international news. Russian TV broadcasting is dominated by channels that are either run directly by the state or owned by companies with close links to the Kremlin. The government controls Channel One and Russia TV - two of the three main federal channels - while state-controlled energy giant Gazprom owns NTV.

Russia’s broadcasting market is very competitive; state-owned or influenced TV networks attract the biggest audiences. Hundreds of radio stations crowd the dial; state-run networks compete with musicbased commercial FM stations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/ 1102275.stm

There are newspapers in Russia - Novaya Gazeta, and Kommersant, among others - that carry considered, informed, balanced writing. Their readerships are not large - perhaps in the tens of thousands. But they do put Russia in a different league than North Korea or Turkmenistan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6616157.stm

An English-language satellite channel, Russia Today, was launched in late 2005. The news-based station is funded by the Kremlin and aims to present “global news from a Russian perspective.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/ 1102275.stm

Inflexible Thursday April 18, 2008 article in Moskovsky Korrespondent reported that Putin, 56, planed to divorce his wife of twenty four years, to marry Alina Kabaeva, 24, an Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics Kabaeva has been a member of Russian Parliament since she was selected last year for a seat by United Russia, the party which Putin controls

Putin’s Response Putin: “Society has the right to know how public figures live” but “there is a limit” “I have always disliked those who, with their infected noses and erotic fantasies, break into other people’s private affairs.”

How did Russia do on that test? Story not reported on Russian television A few days later, the Duma approved a law, voting 339 to 1, allowing authorities to shutter any other newspaper that dared to print such reports again Moskovsky Korrespondent shut itself down

Media rights organization Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern at “the absence of pluralism in news and information, an intensifying crackdown against journalists... and the drastic state of press freedom in Chechnya.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/ 1102275.stm

In addition to political pressure on the media, schools of journalism still use the old Soviet curriculum and graduate students ready to adopt this approach to the media. Substantial advertising and revenue growth is unrelated to journalistic quality and promotes a false perception of success among media outlets. International Research and Exchanges Board, Media and Sustainability Index

Members of the media and journalism community lack a clear and common understanding of their professional mission and this undermines the ability of media community to work together to protect its rights and interests.

“We do not have a common understanding of what we are. On the one hand we are media businesses, on the other, instruments of influence; and on yet another an administrative and political resource.”

--Panelist, IREX’s Media and Sustainability Index Europe and Eurasia 2008

Only two percent of Russians regard the freedom to receive and disseminate information by any lawful means as one of their most important constitutional rights. --October 2007 survey by the Public Opinion Foundation

Concerned observers warn that, in the current atmosphere, critical journalists are increasingly likely to be targeted for physical retribution. Russia is a dangerous place to be a journalist, with very few of the contract-style murders of journalists in recent years resulting in a conviction. In Russia, 11 journalists have been murdered in the last five years, but no case has been solved.

The conflict in Chechnya has been blamed for government attacks on press freedom. Journalists have been killed in Chechnya while others have disappeared or have been abducted. In Moscow and elsewhere journalists have been harassed or physically abused. Reporters investigating the affairs of the political and corporate elite are said to be particularly at risk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/ 1102275.stm

Anna Politkoskaya was one of the most respected human rights defenders in Russia. Her reporting exposed human rights violations in the Northern Caucus region. This award-winning Novaya Gazeta journalist was shot to death by a gunman outside her apartment in October 2006

“For some reason, it is those journalists who are disliked by the authorities who die in this country.” --Moskovsky Komsomolets

“The very desire to be free has been killed in

Russian journalists and I don’t think the revival is forthcoming.”

--journalist Natalia Estemirova

Russia has “decorative press freedom” -- the “Kremlin is working on the 80 to 20 principle. If you control 80 per cent you don’t need to worry about the 20 per cent. Putin understands [it]. . . What the Kremlin does control is the media that matters and that is the electronic media.” --Edward Lucas of The Economist magazine, quoted in POLIS Working Paper, “Media and Democracy in Russia” (October 2007 )

Medvedev on the Media “”The mode of presenting information has changed. Everything is changing, but there is one thing that may remain unchanged for the media--it is the obligation to tell the truth and to be responsible for the stories published.” “I believe that our mass media are developing well enough.”

Journalism as Service to the State 1703 Peter the Great founded Russia’s first “newspaper” to publicize his Great Northern War against Charles XII of Sweden Elizabeth (1741-1762) began the Romanov tradition of forbidding the publication of any story mentioning a member of the royal family without imperial permission (Gary Marker, Publishing, Printing, and the Origins of Intellectual Life in Russia, 49)

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