'50% good' rule is bad news for Russian radio
AT THEIR first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia's largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news. From now on, at least 50 per cent of reports about Russia must be "positive".
Journalists working for the Russian News Service were told by the new managers, allies of the Kremlin, that opposition leaders could not be mentioned and the US was to be portrayed as an enemy.
How would they know what constituted positive news? "When we talk of death, violence or poverty, for example, this is not positive," said one editor who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.
In a darkening media landscape, radio news had been a rare bright spot.
Now, the implementation of the "50 per cent positive" rule at the Russian News Service leaves an increasingly small number of news outlets that are not managed by the Kremlin, directly or through the state national gas company, Gazprom, a major owner of media assets.
The three national television networks are already state-controlled, though small-circulation newspapers generally remain independent.
This month alone, a bank loyal to President Vladimir Putin tightened its control of an independent television station, Parliament passed a measure banning "extremism" in politics and prosecutors have gone after individuals who post critical comments on web chat sites.
Parliament is also considering extending state control to internet sites that report news, reflecting the growing importance of web news as the country becomes more affluent and growing numbers of middle-class Russians acquire computers.
On Tuesday, police raided the Educated Media Foundation, a non-governmental group, sponsored by US and European donors, that helps foster independent news media.
The police removed documents and computers that were used as servers for the websites of similar groups. That brought down a website run by the Glasnost Defence Foundation, a media rights group, which published bulletins on violations of press freedoms.
With this new campaign, aimed at tying up the loose ends before a parliamentary election that is being stage-managed by the Kremlin, censorship rules in Russia have reached their most restrictive since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
The tactic has been to impose state ownership on media companies and replace editors with supporters of Mr Putin or those who offer a more upbeat account of developments in Russia.
The new censorship rules are often passed in vaguely worded measures and decrees that are ostensibly intended to protect the public.
Parliament on Wednesday passed a law allowing for prison sentences as long as three years for "vandalism" motivated by politics or ideology.
Again, vandalism is interpreted broadly, human rights groups say, and can include acts of civil disobedience.
State television news, meanwhile, typically offers only bland accounts of official meetings. Last weekend, the state channels mostly ignored the violent dispersal of opposition protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.
NEW YORK TIMES
