Posted on February 20, 2008 - by Venik

Freedom of Information in Russia

I find it annoying when I hear some BBC reporter talk about “government-controlled” media in Russia (as if BBC wasn’t government controlled). Just as media in any other country, Russian media is regulated – not controlled – by the government. Quality of work of Russian journalists is another matter altogether, but this problem has nothing to do with government regulations.

Russians have unrestricted access to the Internet, satellite TV and radio, foreign newspapers and magazines. In fact, you have wider Internet access from Russia than you do from, for example, the US, because many US ISPs block thousands of online resources they deem illegal, harmful, or otherwise undesirable.

There are excellent Russian news Web sites (some, like InoSMI.ru and InoPressa.ru are actually partially sponsored by the government) that provide daily translations of news articles from a multitude of foreign newspapers and news sites – a completely free public service that, among other news, gives Russians information about current events in the West from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, as well as the look at Russia from the outside. Not to mention that in Russia you can subscribe to and receive most major Western newspapers and magazines.

One may argue that with only about eight million fixed Internet connections and another couple million wireless connections less than ten percent of Russians have access to online information and so they are stuck with the government-regulated domestic TV and press. True, not nearly enough Russians have Internet access, but these numbers are deceptive.

Many (if not most) Russians access Internet from work. A particular company may have a single broadband connection and a hundred employees with Internet access, who browse the Web on their lunch break. Same is true for schools and colleges. Moscow State University may have a dozen broadband lines but this gives Internet access to nearly fifty thousand students, staff and faculty. Internet cafes are also very popular in Russia.

So to say that only ten million Russians have Internet access just because there are ten million fixed Internet connections is to completely misinterpret the numbers. Talk to a few Russians and you will quickly realize that they are very much up to speed on international and domestic headlines; much more so, in fact, than their American cousins.

It’s not access to information or freedom of the press that is the problem in Russia. The problem is the quality of work by Russian journalists. In the last couple of years of the USSR and during the decade following its collapse Russian media enjoyed unprecedented freedom bordering on anarchy. Newspapers could print any nonsense they wanted. And they frequently did. With a few exceptions, there was little regard for the accuracy of information.

In 1990s, when I saw some interesting news item in the Russian media, I always had to go online and verify it against foreign news sources. I had absolutely no confidence in the accuracy of reporting by Russian journalists. It was as if The Star took over every Russian newspaper. Headlines consistently and purposely misrepresented the content. Facts were non-existent or unverified. Street language and poor editing were common. Headlines and editorials were frequently bought and paid for by interested parties. If ten years ago every major Russian newspaper was to close down, I don’t think anybody would have cared or even noticed.

Since 2001 the quality of Russian journalism has been gradually improving through higher standards and adherence to existing laws regulating the media. Today I can pick up a Russian newspaper or go to a Russian news Web site without having to double check the information. Some of the less responsible Russian journalists, who got used to the 1990s free-for-all, are screaming bloody murder because now they actually have to work for their money.

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