Spring Break
Advocates debate state of Russian news
2-day conference explores media trends in past, present
Megan Milstead
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Front Page
Alexey Simonov, president of Glasnost Defense Fund, told a story of four young Russian journalists who arrived in Moscow 14 years ago. One is now dead and the other three are heads of
state departments.
"Russian media makes us wonder, 'Who is alive now?'" Siminov said.
He added that not only is it a danger for journalists to die, but for loyalty to be placed with the government.
"Imagine the figure of the human body," Siminov said. "It is one-fifth head and four-fifths body. In the mirror of the Russian press, this is vice versa. It's like a dwarf with a tremendous head and one-fifth body, totally dedicated to local officials and parliaments."
Simonov presented results of a survey in five regions, looking at local news, radio, and television. He said at least 80 percent of Russian news is dedicated to a portrait of the state.
"The news reflects the state, but not the abilities of the state because the abilities are much less than their presence," Siminov said.
Director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, Oleg Panfilov, provided statistics from research his team had done on the amount of time state-controlled media spends on discussing President Vladimir Putin and the government, versus the amount spent by independent media.
"Russia has never had traditional freedom of speech in its history," Panfilov said. "Russian journalism is just starting to develop in small steps. There is no tradition of fighting for rights together."
The session ended with a discussion of Russian Internet.
"Russian Internet media is very driven by political campaigns and funded by governments," Zolotov said. "Unlike Western Internet, where the biggest Internet media are traditional media that went online, Russia is the opposite."
Many of the guests have planned to stay at Miami for a week or more, which is atypical of the normal one to two day whirlwind visit for the majority of guests on campus.
Patricia Gallagher Newberry, lecturer for the journalism program and chair of the planning committee for the conference, said that the logistics of such a long stay have been interesting.
state departments.
"Russian media makes us wonder, 'Who is alive now?'" Siminov said.
He added that not only is it a danger for journalists to die, but for loyalty to be placed with the government.
"Imagine the figure of the human body," Siminov said. "It is one-fifth head and four-fifths body. In the mirror of the Russian press, this is vice versa. It's like a dwarf with a tremendous head and one-fifth body, totally dedicated to local officials and parliaments."
Simonov presented results of a survey in five regions, looking at local news, radio, and television. He said at least 80 percent of Russian news is dedicated to a portrait of the state.
"The news reflects the state, but not the abilities of the state because the abilities are much less than their presence," Siminov said.
Director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, Oleg Panfilov, provided statistics from research his team had done on the amount of time state-controlled media spends on discussing President Vladimir Putin and the government, versus the amount spent by independent media.
"Russia has never had traditional freedom of speech in its history," Panfilov said. "Russian journalism is just starting to develop in small steps. There is no tradition of fighting for rights together."
The session ended with a discussion of Russian Internet.
"Russian Internet media is very driven by political campaigns and funded by governments," Zolotov said. "Unlike Western Internet, where the biggest Internet media are traditional media that went online, Russia is the opposite."
Many of the guests have planned to stay at Miami for a week or more, which is atypical of the normal one to two day whirlwind visit for the majority of guests on campus.
Patricia Gallagher Newberry, lecturer for the journalism program and chair of the planning committee for the conference, said that the logistics of such a long stay have been interesting.
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