DATE=4/3/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA ELECT / MEDIA
NUMBER=5-46067
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The conduct of Russia's media during the
recent presidential election campaign has raised
questions about just how free the country's press is.
International observers gave a relatively positive
verdict on the election. But as V-O-A Correspondent
Peter Heinlein reports from Moscow, some media critics
and watchdog groups say press freedom is at its lowest
point since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
TEXT: When Vladimir Putin was asked during a pre-
election interview to outline his plans for Russia, he
bluntly told a reporter, "I won't tell you." In most
countries, such a remark would have provoked outrage.
But not in Russia.
Here, the state-run television channels that most
Russians rely on as their only source of news
completely ignored the remark. Media researcher Igor
Galin, who studied the campaign coverage, says only
positive images of Mr. Putin dominated the airwaves.
/// GALIN ACT ///
We have a situation where about 50 percent of news
coverage was about Putin and what he did during the
campaign. Not exactly about him campaigning, but about
his being acting president.
/// END ACT ///
Media watcher Alexei Pankin, publisher of a weekly
journalism review, says even the independent N-T-V
channel, which favored liberal economist Grigory
Yavlinsky, was careful not to offend Mr. Putin,
knowing he was certain to win, and as president would
hold vast power it.
/// PANKIN ACT ONE ///
N-T-V was playing funny games at the same time, trying
to look critical as not to antagonize Putin strongly
enough that he demands they pay their unpaid debts.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Pankin says the Russian press is extremely
vulnerable to government pressure. This is because few
media organizations pay taxes, knowing that
authorities usually look the other way (ignore the
violations). But Mr. Pankin says independent
newspaper publishers and broadcasters know that if
they offend local bureaucrats, they might suddenly
find the tax collector at the door.
/// PANKIN ACT TWO ///
Basically, it's their own corruptness above all. If
you're not paying what you owe, if your transactions
are mostly in black cash, you are extremely
vulnerable. The media loves to be fed by the state,
and then to call itself independent.
/// END ACT ///
Those newspaper publishers who choose to remain
completely independent find themselves facing fierce
competition from well-financed state-run publications.
Eventually, most find themselves with a stark choice:
either accept government subsidies, and the state
control that goes with them, or go bankrupt.
/// OPT /// Yefim Shusterman is one exception.
His independent weekly paper in the southern city of
Volgograd, known as "Inter", has nearly twice the
circulation of the largest state-run daily. His
business is surviving, though he says it is a day-to-
day struggle. He adds, however, that hard times
(financial difficulties) have forced most of his
colleagues to sacrifice their principles.
/// OPT // SHUSTERMAN ACT - IN RUSSIAN
- FADE UNDER TRANSLATION ///
The authorities know perfectly well that economic
hardships these days make the press become
prostitutes, to submit to the governor. Those who have
little conscience have given in to him already.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
Media watcher Robert Coalson of the U-S government-
funded National Press Institute says that by
controlling the regional press and the main national
television channels, Russian authorities maintain firm
control over public opinion.
/// COALSON ACT ONE ///
It's not an accident that the state has kept tight
control over papers and less control over (regional)
TV because the combination of nationally controlled TV
and locally controlled papers is such an effective way
of manipulating public opinion.
/// END ACT ///
/// opt /// Mr. Coalson points out that the
government has another weapon that effectively
silences all election campaign coverage in the
influential regional press.
/// OPT COALSON ACT TWO ///
The election law is written is such a way basically
that any material about any candidate or any party
could be considered some sort of agitation. Or some
sort of libel. And most papers are in such a
vulnerable position that they didn't participate at
all.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
Mr. Coalson says a review of regional papers in the
week before the presidential vote revealed that most
of them had no election coverage whatsoever. He
lashes out at international observer groups which
effectively gave the election, and Russian democracy,
a stamp of approval.
/// COALSON ACT THREE ///
The idea that democracy is flourishing is a
misconception. The fact is even in the Soviet Union
they had elections and people voted and it wasn't a
democracy and they fact they have election now is not
a sign it has democracy. An election process without
the active and informed participation of the
electorate is just a sham.
/// END ACT ///
Several observers say another disturbing sign is the
number of incumbents who win with overwhelming
majorities, even in regions where anti-government
sentiments run high. One example is the northern
Murmansk region, where the governor was re-elected
last month with 98 percent of the votes.
So while Europe's main security organization, the O-S-
C-E, gave the election its preliminary approval,
several independent analysts have concluded the vote
was a farce, and question whether it may have done
more harm than good to the cause of democratic
development in Russia. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/DW
03-Apr-2000 06:54 AM EDT (03-Apr-2000 1054 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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