Zee Beam News

September 18, 2008 - RFE/RL by Daisy Sindelar - Compared to the many press and media outlets created in the wake of the Soviet collapse, Ekho Moskvy has enjoyed a relatively long life. The radio station, which broadcasts a mixture of news, commentary, and public call-in shows, first went on the air in 1990. Since then, it has made and maintained a reputation as one of the most respected news outlets in a country where impartial information has become an increasingly rare commodity. (Russia's ranking in global press-freedom surveys has steadily declined in recent years; Freedom House's 2008 report ranks it on par with Kazakhstan, Sudan, and Yemen.) But Ekho Moskvy's coverage of the recent war in Georgia has brought it unwelcome attention from both the Kremlin and the public. In August, the station -- which employs a wide spectrum of political commentators and relied on reporters in the field, rather than state media reports, for much of its Georgia coverage -- was singled out for criticism by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. During an August 16 gathering in Sochi of some 30 the country's top media professionals, Putin singled out Ekho Moskvy's chief editor, Aleksei Venediktov, berating him for a series of alleged errors in the station's reporting on the war. And on September 16, members of two nationalist groups, the Eurasian Youth Union and the Union of Orthodox Standard-Bearers, staged a demonstration in Moscow accusing Ekho Moskvy of threatening national interests by hosting Georgian officials on the air. The motley gathering of young nationalists and bearded Orthodox faithful began the protest with a prayer before accusing the station of inciting racial hatred and insulting the honor of Russian federal troops. They called for Ekho Moskvy to be closed and for Venediktov to be jailed. Chilling Effect - Such protests -- which typically feature no more than 50 people and appear to stir little public sentiment -- are nonetheless becoming a frequent feature of grassroots political life in Russia. The Eurasian Youth Union, whose followers support calls for the creation of a new empire centered around Russia, recently staged protests outside the Georgian Embassy in Moscow. The group, which is seen as having the tacit support of the Kremlin, has been banned in Ukraine following a series of cyberattacks on government websites and incidents of vandalism targeting Ukrainian national monuments. Ekho Moskvy did not cover the September 16 protest, and neither Venediktov nor his deputy, Sergei Buntman, could be reached for an interview. But Venediktov -- who is featured in a lengthy profile of the station in the September 22 issue of "The New Yorker" magazine -- has made no secret of his difficulties at the hands of the regime. According to Oleg Panfilov, who directs the Center for Journalists in Extreme Situations, Putin's scolding in August has already had a chilling effect on the station's coverage. "I think it's a very serious warning, and I see that the station has already sharply altered its news policy. At least, I feel this as far as I'm concerned," Panfilov says. "I was in Georgia in August, through August 30. Before August 16, [Ekho Moskvy] would call me several times a day in Tbilisi for commentary; I would talk about what was going on in Georgia. After August 16 they stopped calling me, and since then I haven't received a single call from the station." Free, Fair, And Insignificant - Ekho Moskvy, which has a reputation for being free and fair despite being partially owned by the state gas giant Gazprom, joins newspapers like "Novaya gazeta" and "Kommersant," as well as the Internet, to form the last bastion of independent information in Russia. Such outlets, as a whole, are estimated to reach just 5-6 percent of the population in Russia, with the vast majority of people receiving information via television -- the Kremlin's sleek and entirely state-controlled medium of choice. These independent media outlets' relative insignificance, in fact, may prove to be their saving grace. Panfilov says news outlets like Ekho Moskvy may be permitted to continue functioning as long as their influence remains small and their clean reputations are useful for the Kremlin. "These alternative sources of information can't influence the population and public opinion," Panfilov says. "There is also the fact that Putin -- and now [President Dmitry] Medvedev -- is always able to say that Russia has freedom of speech because there are things like Ekho Moskvy, and even a couple of newspapers," he adds. "After all, the people from the Kremlin are buying villas and apartments in Europe, and they want to be able to use them, so they have to preserve their ties with the West."