Debate Over Media Freedoms Emerges In Russia

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (f) and Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (b)Two recent high-profile articles are making news in Russia this month;one is a frank and widely distributed assessment the country's currentand historic problems by President Dmitri Medvedev. The other articlealleges that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was behind a series ofapartment bombings in 1999 in order to consolidate power in the name ofsecurity. But theU.S. publisher of that article has withheld its release in Russia.

Mr.Medvedev's article, entitled, Go Russia, has been widely distributedonline and in print. It outlines Russian corruption, lack of economicdiversification, demographic decline and authoritarian traditions.

TheAmerican publisher of the other article, Conde Nast, has not releasedit online or in the Russian edition of the U.S. men's fashion magazine GQ were it was printed.  

The author, American investigativejournalist Scott Anderson, alleges Russian security forces, not Chechenterrorists, bombed apartment buildings in several cities 10 years agoto frighten and then rally people behind Mr. Putin's promise to keepthe country safe against terrorists.  

Mr. Putin was stillrelatively unknown at the time. An independent translation of thearticle, titled Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power, has appeared onthe Internet. Russian officials have previously denied similarallegations.

President Medvedev says in his article that moderninformation technologies offer unprecedented opportunity to developpolitical freedoms such as freedom of speech and assembly, even if theruling class resents the transparency that comes with such liberties.  

Russianhuman rights advocates, however, accuse the Kremlin leader ofhypocrisy. They point to continued bureaucratic harassment andoutright murder of investigative journalists who criticize powerfulRussian officials. Activists also consider GQ's refusal to distributeits controversial article in Russia as a form of self-censorship aimedat protecting corporate profits against possible reprisals.  

Yevgeniy Khlov is information director of the For Human Rights organization in Moscow.

Unfortunately,says Khlov, it must be said that the West during the rule of Stalin,Brezhnev and now Putin protects its interests by submitting to therules of the game set by totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, notonly in Russia, but also in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

GQ'sMoscow office declined VOA's request for a comment on Khlov'scriticism. Magazine representatives said earlier that Anderson'sallegations were old news in Russia and did not warrant furtherattention.
 
Political analyst Masha Lipman of the MoscowCarnegie Center says the decision to limit distribution of the GQarticle made an official Russian argument against a free press easier.  

"The Russian government ... Russian officials are saying thatthings may not be ideal in Russia with press freedom, but they are notideal elsewhere either," said Lipman. "And if the management of apublication may actually limit the distribution of a sensitive articlein other countries, I think that it portrays them as pragmatic, maybecynical, but certainly not as proponents of press freedom."  

TheSecretary of the Russian Union of Journalists, Nadezhda Azhgikhina toldVOA members of the organization have hopes President Medvedev willexpand media freedoms in Russia.  

Azhgikhina says there arealready a fair number of hard-hitting investigative publications whichfeature very interesting material. She says there are also independentregional television stations, which stand out amid the monotony ofnational state channels. She notes that unfortunately officials do notact sufficiently on the information presented.

PresidentMedvedev's article recognizes the need to develop and exchangeinformation in Russia and provides the Kremlin email address forcitizens to share ideas about solving the country's problems. ButYevgeniy Khlov says individual e-mails to the Kremlin represent theillusion of a discussion or choice. He characterizes the failure ofPresident Medvedev to debate his opponents in last year's presidentialelection as a scandal, and calls for a competitive public exchange ofideas between officials and members of the opposition.

Khlovsays the fundamental issues of domestic and foreign policy in Russiaare not debated; those who oppose the official point of view are notallowed to speak, to develop their positions or participate in adiscussion. The activist says that realistically, there is no freedomof speech in Russia.

Nadezhda Azhgikhina of the RussianJournalist's Union says she does not have enough information to passjudgment on GQ's decision to publish or not publish an article highlycritical of Prime Minister Putin. But she says the more discussionsthere are about press freedom in Russia; the sooner the country canexperience a genuine social dialogue.