The Russian Approach to Media
Media has grown exponentially in the past few decades to the point that it has now become a major influence on each country. Specifically, people nowadays rely on media on pretty much every aspect such as news, movies, music, videogames and much more. Moreover, numerous media types have also portrayed their cultures and traditions through their movies and today, through our globalizing world, everyone can now identify a country’s background, religion, governmental restriction and its special characteristic just by watching its movies or other media forms of it. Therefore, one country in specific that has taken a very different and unique approach to Media is the Russian Federation. Specifically, Russia is a country with a large number of media outlets and channels, but they are very restricted and censored due to the tight and strict government regulations which often ends up becoming a material for propaganda to the government. Moreover, the legal framework that has been provided by the government has given them the power to regulate online media content that specifically comes from other international websites. According to a press source known as The Freedom Press Source, the author mentions that “This includes the so-called Yarovaya laws, a package of antiterrorism legislation signed in July that increased prison sentences for promoting terrorism or extremism online and requires internet service providers to retain and allow decryption of communications data for possible inspection by security agencies.” (Freedom Press Source). Therefore, according to the source mentioned, the “Yarovaya” laws are made to track down people who defame and provide biased information towards the country which are then given big penalties and possible imprisonment. Also, Russia has been known as “violent” against Journalists and other news reporters, and there has been reports of threats, attacks and arrests of Journalists and Social media influencers. Furthermore, according to the Freedom Press Source, the author claims that, “The risk of violence or prosecution was particularly high in Chechnya, an insurgency-prone Russian republic governed by pro-Kremlin strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. A group of Russian and foreign journalists and human rights workers were attacked and beaten by masked assailants as their bus approached the Chechen border in March.” (Freedom Press Source). Therefore, The Russian media has had a history that has given it very unique approach to media that has caused less freedom of speech, propaganda and lack of international television access.
First of all, before we get into the details about the Russian media today, let’s talk about its history first. According an article about TV in the USSR published from the University of Loughborough in UK, it mentions that the Russian Television was originated from a Biologist named P.N. Bakhmet’ev who made his first discoveries of transmitting television images in the 1880’s. This discovery has been further developed by Boris Rosing, who used the cathode-ray tube as a receiver and invented the system in 1907, which then began selling by 1911. Moreover, the first test transmissions in Russia began in April 1931, which wasn’t capable of transmitting moving images yet, which was then solved in the November 1934. As a result, numerous Russian television channels have risen and in 1934, the Soviets imported American technology that began testing transmissions in Moscow and Leningrad Television centres, with the first news reports beginning in March 1939. Following the Russian Civil War that occurred between 1917 and 1922, citizens have been the country has decided to reconstruct the Television Centre in 1948-1949 which was later known as the ‘First Programme’. Moreover, television began to dramatically grow between the 1950’s and the 1960’s and many radio/televisions stations were bought up and initiated by that time. Radio and TV channels have spread around the federation increased as well, with Moscow having its second channel by 1956, then an educational channel by 1964 and a fourth channel by 1967. Satellite Broadcasting was also initiated by that time and began Satellite TV began airing in April 1965. As a result, Television became extremely popular and it started booming in the early 1970’s. Its popularity has increased to the point that the country began fearing about its effect on the viewers and on the country’s soviet cultural ideas which therefore led to action being taken later on by the government. Therefore, the first step taken was that Soviet mass media producers had to go through numerous legal and professional procedures to ensure that it was accepted by the government. According an article about TV in the USSR published from the University of Loughborough in UK, the author claims that, “Soviet mass media producers were subject to the usual range of legal and professional checks on their work to ensure that it conformed to the Party line, ranging from laws on freedom of expression and ‘anti-Soviet agitation’ to checks on the dissemination of printed material through Glavlit, the main censorship organ.” (TV in the USSR). On the other hand, workers who failed to complete such procedures were subjected to imprisonment, sacking, Fines or/and other severe punishments. Lastly, Soviet programmes were initiated to preserve and maintain the soviet culture while also entertaining the citizens. Another quote that from the same article mentions that, “The main task of Soviet radio broadcasting and television is the mobilization of our country’s working people for the comprehensive construction of communism in the USSR.” (TV in the USSR). Furthermore, In the 1970’s, the idea of balancing ideological correctness with entertainment has been very successful with the citizens. One of the most popular shows at that time were “A nu-ka, devushki!” which meant Come on, Girls! Which aired from 1970-1987 and that show basically involved two teams against each other that have to perform tasks to win prizes. Another popular show was called “Klub Kinoputeshestvennikov” which meant Club of Cinema Travellers that aired from 1960 till 2003. Lastly, one the most popular shows at that time were known as “Spokoinoi nochi malyshi!” which meant Good Night, Children! And originated in 1964 and still remains one of the most popular shows to date.
Moreover, the Russian Government has taken a different approach than other countries around the world when it comes to the general principles for their mass media outlets. Specifically, the Government has placed special laws when it comes to the censorship and freedom of mass communication and freedom of the press in mass media. Therefore, the first principle that we will be discussing is the principle of “Freedom of Mass Communication” and this principle mentions that the spread of mass media products shouldn’t be subjected to restriction, unless there is an event of an emergency or military situation, then the law will impose heavy restrictions on the freedom of the mass media, according to an analysis report written about the Media Regulation in Russia by The Thomson Reuters Foundation. Other key general principles include the intolerance of censorship, prohibition of Narcotics, Criminal Acts, Child Victims and Extremist activity. Moreover, there are also more restrictions of freedom of mass media when it comes to the “Traditional Russian Family values”. Specifically, anything that drifts away from their family values, or promotes anything that may disrespect their parents is banned by the law. However, it is allowable if the individuals are above 18 years of age. Also, any advertising or promotion of tobacco and its consumption is prohibited by law. Producers of information products are also obliged to place age restriction marks on their products depending on their genre, and its effect on children. Lastly, Erotic/sexual material is not allowed to be advertised until after 11 PM time till 4 AM on Radio and TV. Furthermore, Journalists who make reports and present in The Russian Federation have rights and obligations. To be specific, some of these rights may include, searching, inquiring and breaking down information before reporting it. Also, each journalist is required to verify the authenticity of the information received and use recording equipment authorized by law. Moreover, one of the things that they are obliged to do is to preserve the confidentiality of the information they collect as mentioned by law. Blogging and bloggers in Russia are also being given special laws and regulations on their activities by the Russian Government. To be specific, owners of mass media websites are not considered bloggers according to an analysis report written about the Media Regulation in Russia by The Thomson Reuters Foundation. Also, bloggers are forbidden from disclosing information that belongs to states or other secrets that are protected by law. They require verification from Russian legislations for any dissemination of sensitive material.
On the other hand, despite of how big The Russian Federation is, there are a handful of media outlets that dominate it in terms of news, Television, Radio and Internet Sources. To begin with, most of the popular news sources are pro-kremlin and many other influential dailies have been bought by companies with close links to the Kremlin, according to an article published by the BBC that talks about the Russian profile in Media. Therefore, a few of the most important presses are, “KomsomoIskaya Pravda”, “Izvestia” and “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” and are all used for mass circulation and are pro-Kremlin. Moreover, other increasingly popular presses like “The Moscow Times” and “RBC” portray their presses in English Language and also publish business news. Television channels are also very influential in the country, with a few channels that dominate the entire television base. Specifically, a few of the most important Television channels are, “Russia One” , “Channel One” and “NTV” that are all national networks owned mostly by the state. The worldwide popular television channel “RT” or “Russia Today” is a state funded, international English- Language news channel that airs worldwide every day and remains as one of the best news channels worldwide. Furthermore, another increasingly popular media source is the “Radio” that is listened everyday by millions of people. Some of the most popular radio channels are “Radio Russia”, which is a national network run by the Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK). Vesti FM, Ekho Moskvy and Sputnik are also very popular radio channels that air to millions of citizens around the country. Lastly, Internet has also been used as a major source of information in Russia, with websites such as “TASS”, that’s a state-owned news agency in English. “Interfax” that is a private news agency, published in English, also “Rambler.ru” and “Yandex.ru” being the leading Portals and Search Engines in Russia. Last but not least, just like how Facebook and Instagram are currently the world’s leading social media platforms, “VKontakte” is the leading social network in The Russian Federation. On the other hand, the Russian media has been very dedicated and strict when it comes to preserving their culture and tradition with their media outlets; unlike many other countries in the world that tend to drift towards international trends and traditions. Specifically, according to an article published from “The Guardian” newspaper, the author, Alexey Kovalev talks about the Russian Media by saying, “Today, the Russian state employs both hard and soft power to further its grip on the country’s media. New restrictive laws are passed with dispiriting predictability: foreign media franchise owners are forced out of their stakes in international brands such as Forbes or Esquire based in Russia, fines and other penalties are introduced for not covering controversial subjects such as terrorism and drug abuse in terms that “do not explicitly discourage the behavior”. (Kovalev). Moreover, the Russian Media has also threatened foreign media outlets by censoring their media, restricting their profits and other things that encourage growth to them, such as their freedom to print and their cable/ internet services if they do not follow their orders.
To finally conclude, as you’ve all witnessed in this report, the Russian media has had a history that has given it a very unique authoritarian approach to media, with special restrictions to International media, internet, Journalists, Bloggers and other mass media outlets has therefore led to less freedom of speech, propaganda and shortage of International television access. Moreover, the Russian media was very successful when it came to preserving their tradition and culture in media, by restricting and making it difficult for the international television outlets. To end my report, I’d like to conclude by saying that I would love to see the Russian Television lighten their laws and regulations and allow more freedom of speech to give the entire world an idea of how Russia really is as a country.