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Abstract
This article traces the genesis of a neo-Soviet model of the mass media. Through an examination of the Russian media in the post-Soviet era as well as a review of media performance during elections in the region, the article concludes that the Russian media now operate in a ‘neo-Soviet’ fashion. Factors in this media model include a rejection of balance or objectivity; flaws in media law; self-censorship; government interference and harassment of media outlets; the lack of journalistic professionalism; and an atmosphere of violence against journalists. Furthermore, there are continuities in audience reception from the Soviet to the neo-Soviet model.
Notes
For example, see www.freedomhouse.org, last accessed 3 August 2007.
Focus group, March 2000.
Some of the classics in the twentieth century are Dahl (Citation1989), Habermas (Citation1989), and Huntington (Citation1991).
From 24 focus groups conducted in Moscow, Ulyanovsk and a hamlet near Voronezh in 2000 as well as eight focus groups in Moscow and Ulyanovsk in 2004. The focus group questions were written by the author and the groups were moderated by Russian Research Ltd. For detailed findings from the groups, see Oates (Citation2006), particularly Chapters 3 and 7. This research was funded by two grants from the British Economic and Social Research Council (R223350028 and R000223133).
Focus group, March 2000.
As part of its remit, the BBC monitors media outlets from around the world. This report is available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4315129.stm, accessed 22 May 2007.
For example, the media did successfully challenge a quite restrictive election coverage law that was passed in 2003, which would have made it essentially impossible for them to carry any discussion of party policy or ideology in the election coverage.
Interview with author, NTV offices, Moscow, March 2004.
Putin made these comments at a news conference in Dresden with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He also called the killing a ‘disgustingly cruel crime’. See ‘Chechnya: Politkovskaya Mourned as “Last Hope”’, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 11 October 2006, full article available at: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/10/955DF0B0-A445-46EF-A7F8-A49B36A501E8.html, last accessed 3 August 2007.
See Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in the Last 10 Years, a report from the Committee to Project Journalists, available at: http://www.cpj.org/killed/killed_archives/Intro.html, last accessed 3 August 2007. The figures only include those for whom there is evidence to suggest that a journalist was likely killed in direct reprisal for his or her work or in cross fire while carrying out a dangerous assignment. The figure does not include journalists who were killed in accidents apparently unrelated to their work.
These reports were conducted by the former European Institute for the Media in Düsseldorf, Germany. They were gathered and analysed by the author with funding from a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. The reports are archived online at: http://www.media-politics.com/eimreports.htm, accessed 22 May 2007. They were scored by identifying the presence of certain issues (such as bribery, violence and censorship) on a scale of zero (not present) to four (extensive evidence of occurrence). The reports were coded by the author, with intercoder reliability checks performed by Dr Gillian McCormack, formerly of the European Institute for the Media.
This launched a political scandal in Ukraine as the allies of Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma were accused of plotting his disappearance—although this was never proven.
While this is clear from observation—particularly with the forced editorial changes at NTV in 2001—it also has been traced in media observation reports during Russian elections by the European Institute for the Media (archived at: http://www.media-politics.com/eimreports.htm, last accessed 3 August 2007) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe/Office of Democratic Initiatives and Human Rights (see www.osce.org/odihr, last accessed 3 August 2007).
