And in the bad news...
Another brick is added to the authoritarian system being built in Russia.50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio
"At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia's largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be 'positive.'
"In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin...
"In a darkening media landscape, radio news had been a rare bright spot. Now, the implementation of the '50 percent positive' rule at the Russian News Service leaves an increasingly small number of news outlets that are not managed by the Kremlin...
"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, the police raided the Educated Media Foundation, a nongovernmental group sponsored by United States and European donors that helps foster an independent news media...
"With this new campaign, seemingly aimed at tying up the loose ends before a parliamentary election in the fall that is being carefully stage-managed by the Kremlin, censorship rules in Russia have reached their most restrictive since the breakup of the Soviet Union, media watchdog groups say...
"[The government's] tactic has been to impose state ownership on media companies and replace editors with those who are supporters of Mr. Putin — or offer a generally more upbeat report on developments in Russia these days.
"The new censorship rules are often passed in vaguely worded measures and decrees that are ostensibly intended to protect the public...
"The change leaves Echo of Moscow, an irreverent and edgy news station that often provides a forum for opposition voices, as the only independent radio news outlet in Russia with a national reach.
"And what does Aleksei Venediktov, the editor in chief of Echo of Moscow, think of the latest news from Russia?
"'For Echo of Moscow, this is positive news,' Mr. Venediktov said. 'We are a monopoly now. From the point of view of the country, it is negative news.'"
Colin Powell interviewed on Echo radio, Moscow
posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:40 AM
1 Comments:
Perhaps following the Russian example, the legislature in Afghanistan (according to a report on NPR) is considering legislation that would make it illegal to report on or satirize things that make the government look bad. The bill is sponsored by a legislator who was photographed sleeping during a session of parliament.
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