Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Media freedom in Russia

Media freedom in Russia is conditional and a result of politics.

In Russia, freedom of speech belongs to the state

Here's what the world looks like in a country where the government controls the media:

One evening, the main television channel uses prime time to broadcast a concert across vast Russia, paying tribute to the much-feared tax collectors. Another day, media overseers charge a respected newspaper with extremism - for straightforward reporting on neo-Nazi groups…

Dmitri Muratov [is] the editor of Novaya Gazeta and recipient of the warning for promoting extremist views. One more such warning, and the paper can be shut down…

Earlier this year, Novaya Gazeta examined the organization, membership and pronouncements of neo-Nazi groups, mostly quoting from their Web sites. Muratov thought the article - conventional by Western standards - would set off a government investigation of fascists. "Instead, we got a warning against extremism," he said...

Andrei Richter, director of the Media Law and Policy Institute, said the government dislikes Novaya Gazeta but needs it, as well as outspoken radio station Ekho Moskvy, as evidence of freedom of speech for visiting dignitaries.

"Closing it would be quite a scandal," he said, "but the government doesn't mind warning the newspaper…"