(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 16, 2013) Some 57% of Russians polled by the Superjob.ru portal support the idea of banning children younger than 13 from social networks. Another 17% expressed their support but said the age limit should be higher (49% stand for 16 years and 21% for 18). Fourteen percent were against and 12% could not answer the question. The portal polled 1,600 Russians with children younger than 16
(RIA Novosti – May 16, 2013) Russian Public TV (OTR) programme director Stanislav Arkhipov has said that the television channel, which is set to launch on 19 May, will concentrate on news but will try to avoid emphasis on “know-it-all Moscow”, Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported on 16 May. According to the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 50 per cent of those polled would like to see Russian feature films
(Interfax – Anapa, May 15, 2013) Destructive forces, including foreign ones, use the absence of controls over on-line publications for information wars aimed at undermining people’s trust in the country’s leadership and law-enforcement bodies, official Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin has said. “Today, social networks and major blog services comprise hundreds of thousands of independent users who are subjected to minimal and often a complete lack of censorship, and are
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – May 6, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is a correspondent and editor at themoscownews.com When, over the long weekend, I sat down to watch “Game of Thrones,” a fantasy series set in a mythical realm where seven houses ruthlessly vie for supreme power, I was prepared to draw parallels with Russian politics. At first, the show delivered to my inner geek as would
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 8, 2013) President Barack Obama’s administration has come under fire for its desire to speak off the record in some meetings with journalists. But what if the administration inadvertently breaks its own rules? That’s what appeared to happen this week when the U.S. State Department arranged a teleconference with journalists to discuss Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Moscow. The teleconference was designated
(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – May 2, 2013) It is often argued that Russia’s democratic future is assured by the progressive and pro-Western attitudes of its youth. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, contends that the reality is more complex. The current – usually pessimistic – discussions in the West
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 3, 2013) Russia performed miserably in three major ratings by prominent Western media watchdogs released this week to mark World Press Freedom Day on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin retained a place on the Predators of Freedom of Information index by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, published on Friday. The report called Putin a “control freak” and accused him of oppressing Russia’s burgeoning grassroots
(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – May 3, 2013) An international media watchdog has called President Vladimir Putin a “predator” of free press and lumped him together with the likes of new Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Italian Mafia. The France-based Reporters Without Borders released an updated list of 39 “Predators of Freedom of Information” for World Press Freedom Day on Friday, but it reserved some of its most scorching
(RIA Novosti – London, May 2, 2013)(Dateline as received) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov hopes that social network VKontakte will continue despite the problems surrounding its founder, Pavel Durov. Social network VKontakte has recently found itself at the centre of several scandals. Information has appeared in the media about Durov’s involvement in a high-profile road accident in central St Petersburg in early April 2013. A policeman was injured, while
(Interfax – Moscow, May 1, 2013) A rally promoting European electronic music in Russia was the first event held at the “Hyde Park” (speakers’ corner) that opened in Moscow’s Gorkiy Park on Wednesday (1 May), the creator of Hardcore Russia TV, Yuriy Markin, has said. “We are pioneers, the first people who held an action in this ‘Hyde Park’. We gathered here at seven o’clock in the morning, we love
(Kremlin.ru – April 25, 2013) Moscow After the Direct Line programme, Vladimir Putin met with members of the media to answer their questions. QUESTION: Mr President, 85 questions, 85 answers, 85 people this is quite a lot. And all the questions were important. But there were nearly 2.5 million people who asked questions. Will all these questions be organised in some way? (It would be good if they were
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – April 26, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin broke his own record with his longest ever annual Q&A meet the people press conference. In just under five hours the president attempted to answer as many of the more than 3m questions submitted by Russians on topics covering the gamut of issues. Widely ridiculed by western correspondents as the spectacle of authoritarian leader burnishing his Great
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 25, 2013) As more evidence surfaces that the Boston bombing suspects were motivated by a radical version of Islam learned largely from jihadist websites, the monitoring of such websites may prove to be the starting point for closer cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on security issues. The surviving suspect of the attack, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, told investigators that he and his
(Interfax – April 22, 2013) The format of Russian TV presenter and opposition activist Kseniya Sobchak’s weekly political talk show “Gosdep-3″, aired on Internet and satellite Dozhd TV channel, will be changed, Interfax news agency reported on 22 April, quoting Dozhd managing director Natalya Sindeyeva. “The programme is by no means being closed. We are suspending it in order to change its format. The format that we have does not
(opendemocracy.net – April 23, 2013 – Zygmunt Dzieciolowski, Alexei Levinson, and Mikhail Sokolov) Mikhail Sokolov is an ex Radio Liberty journalist and a historian. Alexei Levinson is sociologist and senior researcher at the Levada Center, Russia’s leading polling organisation, Moscow. Zygmunt Dzieciolowski is a Polish journalist who has covered Russia and other post Soviet republics for European media since 1989. He is founding editor of openDemocracy/Russia. Kremlin control of the
(Kennan Institute – www.wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Mackensie Knorr – April 12, 2013) Meeting Summary “We strive to get all the information to put together the full picture. All questions must be answered, and there shouldn’t be any holes in the story,” said Svetlana Reiter, freelance journalist for Bolshoi Gorod, among other magazines. At a 12 April conference at the Kennan Institute, five ground-breaking Russian journalists, including Reiter, discussed their experiences and
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 18, 2013) Boris Reznik, secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists and a State Duma deputy, believes negative tendencies are emerging in Russian journalism. “The situation in information policies is worsening,” Reznik said at the tenth congress of the Russian Union of Journalists on Thursday. Specifically, Reznik said that “our media legislation needs further improvement.” “We have a new edition of the law on the mass
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 18, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted the delegates of the 10th congress of the Russian Union of Journalists, the Kremlin press service said. “Your forum is important both for journalists and public life in Russia as a whole because journalists have always been not just “chroniclers”, but immediate participants in key events of Russian history. They have been playing a large role in forming people’s
(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – Igor Rozin, based on Interfax – rbth.ru – April 18, 2013) The Russian Investigative Committee has completed its inquiry into the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Meanwhile, the defendants deny their guilt and want to be tried by jury. The Russian Investigative Committee has announced that it completed its inquiry into the assassination of Novaya Gazeta investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. “Investigators have collected
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nora FitzGerald, RBTH – April 18, 2013) It’s a tough and dangerous business and economically, journalism is wildly insecure. But some of Russia’s independent print journalists say their work is at a higher level than ever before. Elizaveta Osetinskaya, the husky-voiced, world-weary-at-36 editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine, made a statement that seemed to surprise audience members at the forum, “The
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – April 15, 2013) When a journalist dies in Russia, people may pay attention, but the crime usually goes unsolved. According to some observers, this may not change for a long time. When Mikhail Beketov, a journalist who was brutally attacked in 2008, died in a hospital last week, Oleg Kashin, a journalist who survived a similar attack, marveled at just how few
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 15, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-russians-want.html) In January 1917, Lenin thought that he and members of the older generation of revolutionaries might not live to see a revolution but by the end of that year, he and the Bolsheviks were in power in Petrograd. Now, the Russian opposition believes that there must be radical change, but polls suggest that most Russians don’t agree
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – April 12, 2013) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. State Duma Deputy Alexei Mitrofanov, who heads the Duma committee regulating the media, came up with a new idea two weeks ago to fight the Kremlin’s battle against “insulting speech” aimed at politicians: increase the fines against media outlets to 45 million rubles ($1.4 million) for such offenses. What’s
(RIA Novosti – Moscow, April 10, 2013) Law-enforcement methods are becoming ineffective in prevention of terrorism, especially when it comes to propaganda in the internet, therefore all forces must be concentrated on meticulous work with the internet audience, adviser to the chairman of the National Antiterrorist Committee and member of the Public Council under the FSB reserve Lt-Gen Andrey Przhezdomskiy believes. “The key issue – preventing the criminal underground from
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 8, 2013) A controversial interview with Konstantin Ernst, general director of state-owned Channel One, has caused a scandal in social networks and the media, raising questions of press freedom and journalist ethics. The interview was taken in 2008 by Yevgeny Levkovich, who was a freelance correspondent for the Russian edition of Rolling Stone magazine. He had tried to publish it for five years before
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – April 8, 2013) Anti-Kremlin leader Alexei Navalny walks methodically past a crowd of protesters standing behind metal barricades on Bolotnaya Ploshchad, heading for a stage. Two baby-faced police officers step out of his way, blank expressions on their faces. “We’re with you,” a man in sunglasses says to Navalny. “Thanks,” Navalny answers without stopping, evidently unaware that he is about to be
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Romendik, special to RBTH – April 2, 2013) Having a blog is a modern trend in Russia’s politics. Yet sometimes it results in high-profile scandals. Having a blog is the new fashion among Russian politicians, who are creating increasing numbers of accounts on social networks. Yet this cutting-edge form of reaching out to their voters sometimes results in high-profile scandals. Chechen leader
(RIA Novosti, MOSCOW, April 2, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended the inauguration of a building that will host the Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-Witted, or the KVN, humor show in Moscow. The ceremony took place on Monday night at the former Havana cinema building, which has been remodeled with Putin’s backing to accommodate Russia’s most popular and funny student show. “They say an artist must be
(Interfax – Moscow, April 1, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has congratulated the editorial staff of Novaya Gazeta on the 20th anniversary of the publication, saying that “it is precisely such independent and responsible journalism that modern Russia needs”. (Novaya Gazeta is a liberal newspaper often critical of the authorities and known for its investigative journalism and focus on human rights issues) “A bright, professional group of like-minded people
(RFE/RL - rferl.org – Claire Bigg – April 1, 2013) Few Russian newspapers have faced as much adversity as “Novaya gazeta.” Best known for its hard-hitting investigative reports on government corruption and rights abuses in the North Caucasus, the newspaper has come under intense government pressure in its two decades of existence. It has battled several high-profile lawsuits, suffered serious financial woes in the mid-1990s, and its website has been
MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) You may be able to “friend” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Facebook, but that’s no excuse to get familiar. That was the message coming out of Medvedev’s office on Thursday in response to some web-users’ impudently using a diminutive version of the premier’s name. “I don’t get people who write on Facebook, for example, ‘Go Dimon, good for you, you were really on
(RIA Novosti - March 26, 2013) A research conducted by RIA Novosti Research Centre has shown that the trust of Russians towards the internet is growing, whereas TV is losing its popularity as a source of information, RIA Novosti news agency reported on 26 March. In December 2012, media experts and heads of Russian leading media houses took part in the research aimed at studying the Russian news sector development
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, believes the liberal media have assumed the role of the right-wing opposition. “The right-wing opposition is now extremely weak. The liberal media have assumed its role. Their attacks on the State Duma and the Kremlin are not just episodes, but a tough fight for power,” Pushkov said on Twitter on Monday. Pavel Gusev, chairman
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 25, 2013) Russian became the second most frequently used language on the Internet in 2013, having passed Germany by a narrow margin, according to a report by analytical company W3 Techs. The company counted the number of sites in each language regardless of the number of hits the sites get, Vedomosti reported Friday. The analysis revealed that 54.7 percent of Internet sites are in
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Dmitry Romendik, special to RBTH – March 21, 2013) In recent years, all Russian political satires have gradually shifted to the Internet, though experts say Russian TV audiences want to see more. “Yes, Mr. President,” a new political sitcom on one of Russia’s main television channels, generated immediate interest in the mass media. This is hardly surprising, since the show’s hero is Vladimir
(Interfax – Moscow, March 19, 2013) Russian society should be ready for manifestations of extremism in the internet to be viewed and punished appropriately, as those made outside the net, the head of the State Duma committee for information policy, information technologies and communications, Aleksey Mitrofanov, has said. “I think that the fight against extremism in the internet will gradually match the fight against extremism outside the internet,” Mitrofanov told
(Interfax – Moscow, March 16, 2013) The share of Russians who access the Internet at least once a day is currently 43 per cent or 50.1m people, a study by the Public Opinion Fund (FOM), which was posted on the FOM website on the measurements for winter 2012-2013, has shown. This indicator constituted 40 per cent or 46.8m people last year. At the same time, according to FOM, the activity of
(Interfax – Moscow, 13 March 2013) The Presidential Council for Human Rights has called for a reform to denationalize federal TV channels in the next few years because it believes that the level of the authorities’ influence on their information policy is blocking the formation of an appropriate picture of modern Russian society. “The Council considers it necessary to recommend that the concentration of electronic mass media in the hands
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 12, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/03/window-on-eurasia-at-putins-order-fsb.html) At the direction of President Vladimir Putin, the FSB is not only monitoring social networks but using one of their features to create problems for those opponents of the regime who use them by posting statements on their sites and then invoking the appearance of those materials to intimidate or even bring charges against them. This disturbing
MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) – The United States and Russia share the opinion that common rules of guaranteeing cyber security must be worked out, U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said in an interview published by Kommersant.Vesti magazine on Monday. However, there is one moment on which our points of view coincide with the Russian authorities. The issue is cyber security, he said. It should not be allowed that social
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 From: “Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)” <newslist@isn.ch> Subject: No.123: The Russian Media Landscape RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST Newsletter 21 February 2013/No. 123 The Russian Media Landscape To download this issue please click here: http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/DetailansichtPubDB_EN?rec_id=2432 Analyses Putin and Russia’s Crippled Media, by Robert W. Orttung and Christopher Walker, Washington, D.C. Open Government Partnership in a Regime that Is Not Free?, by Irina Busygina, Moscow, and Mikhail Filippov, Binghamton,
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 1, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/03/window-on-eurasia-five-new-statistics.html) Five new statistics about Russia this past week one about Muslims in the army, a second about the state of its roads, a third about the number of illegal migrants in the country, a fourth about Russian attitudes toward religious instruction in the schools, and a fifth about public trust in television news say far
(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Tatiana Stanovaya – February 25, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Two important tendencies have marked Russian political life during the past few months. The first is the Kremlin’s attempt to control officials’ and lawmakers’ foreign accounts and real estate holdings. The second is the growing activity of independent bloggers and civic activists in investigating unaccounted foreign assets of regime
(Interfax – Moscow, February 21, 2013) The Russian Foreign Ministry has opened an official account in the social network Facebook, says a report published on the ministry’s website today. “Topical information about the Russian foreign policy, archive materials about the history of the Russian diplomatic service, helpful information for countrymen and Russians staying abroad will be posted there. We expect that the page will become a popular ground for interactive
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – February 19, 2013) More than a year after the start of marches against allegedly rigged Duma elections, the burning caldron that was the Russian protest movement cooled to a gentle bubbling, while its participants went back to their usual temperate lives. Such a turn of events poses a problem for the Dozhd television station, which came to prominence with its broadcasts of
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 From: Sue Dorfman <Sedorf@comcast.net> Subject: PUTIN’S KISS on 2/20 in DC Matt Rojansky suggested I contact you to help spread the word on the upcoming screening of the film, PUTIN’S KISS. The film shows on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 pm at the West End Cinema, located at 2301 M St NW Washington, DC 20037. Rachel Denber, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director of the Europe
(RIA Novosti – February 15, 2013) Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Communication Nikolay Nikiforov has said that remarks recently voiced by his deputy Aleksey Volin regarding the role of journalism in the Russian society do not constitute the ministry’s official position. Nikiforov said this at the Economic Forum in Krasnoyarsk on 15 February, as reported by Russian news agency RIA Novosti on the same day. At a conference held
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 15, 2013) In a sign of the times, Russias statistics agency, Rosstat, is going to add the cost of hooking up to the internet and monthly spending on mobile phone bills to the consumer basket that is used to calculate inflation, amongst other things. The Russian economy is increasingly being driven by consumer spending and with both mobile phone and internet use almost
WASHINGTON February 15 (RIA Novosti) “From Russia with Love” takes on a whole new meaning on the recently launched “Happy Vladentine’s Day” blog [http://vladentinesday.tumblr.com], a collection of photos with tongue-in-cheek Valentine’s Day captions that feature Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dubbed “love letters from a global badass,” the site shows imaginary, Putin-themed messages of endearment printed across some of the most memorable images of the Russian president, much like a traditional
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The right to freedom of speech is inviolable, and no one holds a monopoly on the right to speak on behalf of Russia’s society, President Vladimir Putin said. “Citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of speech is inviolable and unshakeable. However, no one has a right to sow hatred and rock society and the country, thus jeopardizing the life, wellbeing and peace of millions of our
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