Censorship Fears Grow as Officials Move to Tackle 'Negativity' in Russian Media

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: October 18, 2014 (Issue # 1833)

Igor Chernyshev told the Izvestia newspaper that he aims to create a "forum for discussing the question of our country's information policy" with the editors of national media outlets. Photo: Pixabay

Days after President Vladimir Putin signed a law forcing foreign companies to sell stakes in Russian media, members of Russia's upper house of parliament have advocated applying state pressure to combat a glut of "negative" news that is poisoning the country's image, a news report said Friday.

The proposal's mastermind Igor Chernyshev told newspaper Izvestia that he aims to create a "forum for discussing the question of our country's information policy" with the editors of national media outlets in the upper house, which is known as the Federation Council.

"It's very important for formulating an image even within our government among people, among regions, let alone internationally," Chernyshev said.

"It is a wonky situation when national media show only what they themselves consider important or 'hot topics,'" he said.

Chernyshev's proposal comes hard on the heels of a law limiting foreign ownership of Russian media to 20 percent that critics say was designed to increase the state's leverage over media outlets. Previous legislation had set a 50 percent limit on ownership of radio and television media but left print where foreign companies have a huge presence untouched. The new law threatens the Russian assets of at least 15 international media houses.

Some media professionals were less than enthused by Chernyshev's proposal. Vladimir Pozner, a respected media personality and talk show host on state-run Channel One, said Friday that the idea strongly resembled the attitude towards media under the Soviet Union.

"There is no negative or positive information there is information This looks a lot like an effort to introduce censorship," Pozner told news website Slon.ru.

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Censorship Fears Grow as Officials Move to Tackle 'Negativity' in Russian Media