Media and politics in Russia
Here's a comparative case study. This Washington Post article is very good on the nature and political role of Russian media. How does the Russian case compare with media in other countries? How does that affect the nature of the political systems in those countries?The article also includes a profile of the leading candidate to succeed Putin, Dmitri Medvedev.
Russian TV Shines Warmly on a Likely Successor to Putin
"Every Sunday morning, two favorites of President Vladimir Putin play prominent supporting roles on a television game show called Happy Bus. In sunny clips spliced into the show's airtime, Dmitri Medvedev and Sergei Ivanov hand out awards and urge young people in general to live healthy lives.
"Ostensibly, the two men have perfectly straightforward reasons for appearing on the show: Each week, one team of contestants is sponsored by Gazprom, the state-controlled energy giant chaired by Medvedev. The opposing team is sponsored by the New Generation Foundation, headed by Ivanov, who is also defense minister.
Ivanov (left) and Medvedev (right)
"But Happy Bus is widely viewed here as proof of the Kremlin's ability to commandeer the airwaves... to aid Putin in anointing a successor... Happy Bus debuted in May on NTV, a network owned by a Gazprom subsidiary.
"With the centralization of power in the Kremlin, Russian politics has become ever more tightly scripted, and genuine electoral competition has withered...
"Since the reelection of Boris Yeltsin in 1996, when a group of media tycoons threw the full weight of their television stations behind his faltering candidacy and demonized his Communist opponent, tight management of broadcast journalism has been a critical instrument in Russian presidential elections, including Putin's two campaigns.
"But unlike in 1996, when the power of television was wielded by wealthy businessmen, today those media assets are controlled by the state or companies loyal to the Kremlin...
"Among 2,064 news stories on Medvedev in 2006, there was not a single negative report on the news broadcasts of six television channels, including the three major national stations, according to a survey by Medialogia, an analytical group in Moscow. There were 17 negative reports on Ivanov, most of them centered on a brutal hazing incident in the military to which he was slow to respond, according to Medialogia.
"Other potential candidates are not treated so kindly. In the same period, there was not a single positive report on Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister and Putin critic who has said he may seek the presidency..."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:18 AM
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Russians to Vote, but Some Parties Lose in Advance
"The elections [in St. Petersburg] on March 11, like those in 13 other regions, will preview coming national elections in which voters’ choices will be severely limited at best. 'Democracy?' asked Vladimir I. Fyodorov, a leader of the Communist Party here, which faces an uphill task of winning any seats to the city’s 50-member legislature. 'I would not call the process under way in our country democracy.'...
"At the Kremlin’s urging... Parliament has raised the threshold for parties to win seats, eliminated minimum turnout requirements, abolished district elections in favor of party lists, and eliminated the option of voting 'against all.' A new law on extremism would ban a candidate from criticizing his or her opponent, or anyone actually in office.
"The Kremlin has also made it more difficult for political parties to form and register...
"That measure, like most of the others, has an ostensibly reasonable and democratic purpose: to simplify and clarify the rules of elective politics. To critics, though, the Kremlin has simply assured the smooth re-election of pro-presidential parties...
"In all, parties were denied registration in 17 instances. The only three parties that faced no problems were United Russia, Just Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party, all pro-presidential..."
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