04 June 2004 20:16
Russian Channel One TV`s Pozner ponders his medium, free speech, "limitations"
Russian TV personality Vladimir Pozner has given some very guarded replies to questions about media freedom in Russia
today. In an interview with Russian Ekho Moskvy radio, he commented on the absence in Russia of any television channel
which could be described as truly public. Russian TV, he said, "is conditioned a great deal by those in
power". He said that election coverage, in the run-up to both the parliamentary and presidential polls, was
"strictly controlled". "To prohibit something or to intimidate someone is a very poor method. Eventually,
more often than not it leads to a situation in which you end up with a dissident, shall we say, rather than a
journalist," Pozner thought. The following is excerpted from Pozner's interview with Russian Ekho
Moskvy's Yelena Afanasyeva, broadcast on 30 May; subheads added editorially:
[Presenter] Good evening. This is "Telekhranitel", a programme about what is essentially TV and those who
determine and maintain what it essentially is. I am Yelena Afanasyeva. Every Sunday, between 1700-1800 [1300-1400 gmt],
you and I will host a discussion about the personalities, programmes, events and anti-events that influence the
development of Russian TV.
And in the studio today we have a man who is probably, if not No 1, then most certainly in the top 10 of them. He is
Vladimir Vladimirovich Pozner, president of the Television Academy, presenter and - well - just Pozner.
[Passage omitted]
No public TV in Russia today
What is television: is it primarily about business, politics, art, or media?
[Pozner] For me personally, it is a means whereby I communicate with the viewer. In Russia in general, in my view,
television today is undoubtedly about business, on the one hand, but in a way that has a very strong connection with
politics. This is my take on TV in Russia today.
There is no public television in Russia, which would not depend on those in power and would not depend on money.
Television as it is now is a commercial venture as it relies on advertising a lot. On the other hand, of course - in the
case of the main TV channels but not only them, for example regional channels - TV is conditioned a great deal by those
in power, be it the federal or local authorities. All of which results in a business-political entity, a rare animal
indeed.
Things to "bear in mind" on Channel One
[Presenter] And can you live with this animal, on the air and in the structure of our TV with which you work? After
all, you have always made it clear that you are not on the staff of the channel, although you are on the air on Channel
One.
[Pozner] Yes. I have probably been lucky to date, and happy at work, in the sense that I am free to do what I want.
Sure, there are occasional - what did they say on the second channel, Russia TV: was it glitches during the naval
manoeuvres? - so I also have glitches occasionally, although I largely can do what I think important and necessary.
Of course, Channel One pays for "Vremena" and, thus, is entitled to know what it pays for. It can't be
a pig in a poke. So Konstantin Ernst, Channel One's director-general, and I discuss not only what will be debated
but also by whom. I see nothing untoward about this. This is normal.
In general, however, I realize how very difficult it is to work in television today.
[Passage omitted]
So there is Channel One. There is its director-general, who is responsible for the channel and with whom I have a
good working relationship, the fact of which I have always been open about. In the final analysis, he is responsible for
the channel, which is something I also have to bear in mind. So I can't really blurt something out simply because I
feel like it, mainly for him then to be held responsible.
[Passage omitted]
Meeting with Putin
[Presenter] Some time last winter, in January I think, you tried - at a meeting between the president and several TV
presenters - to ask Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] - your namesake - about the Kremlin's attempts if not at
censorship then in some way to influence what is aired, including in "Vremena", with some phone calls about
some things to be cut. Is this true?
[Pozner] Yes, there was indeed such a meeting, in January, at which the president asked us to tell him what we
thought was of concern, and for this conversation to remain off the record.
Generally, a journalist follows a set of rules, so when someone tells you that something is off the record and is not
even to be used as a backgrounder, that is to say as a reference to an anonymous but real source, you have to respect
that. So I cannot really answer your question.
[Passage omitted]
Election coverage "strictly controlled"
[Presenter] More recently, have you had to withhold, not to air, some information known to you, because of one of
those rules?
[Pozner] Probably not. But I can say that nevertheless - in the run-up to the elections to the State Duma and to the
presidential elections - we were strictly controlled.
[Presenter] By the channel?
[Pozner] By the channel, which quite obviously was accountable to other power structures. This concerned matters such
as who could be interviewed and what could be discussed, or more precisely what should not be discussed. Yes, there was
that. So, strictly, it did not concern some information that had come to light. Rather, it was really a policy.
My understanding is that those in power were worried. They want to carry out some reforms, I don't doubt that,
and are extremely edgy about anything that could conceivably get in the way of that, which was very obvious in the
run-up to the elections. And although I did not have to suppress information - as in: I know something but will not air
it - there were of course limitations, such as: no, this one cannot be interviewed, or that should not be discussed.
Yes, there were such things, and there were clashes.
[Passage omitted]
A dissident or a journalist?
[Presenter] Do you not think that those in power have now placed severe limitations on the ways in which their
activities could be analysed?
[Pozner] Of course they have. Those in power always limit that. The difference is that when those in power are
intelligent, they can use TV to their advantage. The United States is an excellent example of how this is done. There,
there is criticism of the authorities, as there should be, yet the authorities there know how to use TV.
To prohibit something or to intimidate someone is a very poor method. Eventually, more often than not it leads to a
situation in which you end up with a dissident, shall we say, rather than a journalist.
[Passage omitted]
"Vremena" live in Far East
[Presenter] Our listeners could now well experience a very odd sensation, that they are in a parallel universe, when
literally in seven seconds [as "Vremena" begins in European Russia] you will be on Channel One and say: Hello,
I am Vladimir Pozner, and this is the "Vremena" programme. Briefly, how does this work?
[Pozner] Briefly, my programme is broadcast live in the Far East, when it is 10 a.m. in Moscow.
[Passage omitted]
So, it is then broadcast as a recording, as we can't really ask our interviewees - often members of the
government for example - to pop in a second time the same day so as to broadcast it live once again. It is, you will
agree, unrealistic. So it is a live broadcast in the Far East, and is then repeated on satellite again and again.
The "Frankenstein" episode
[Presenter] Does it ever happen that bits are cut out of the programme?
[Pozner] There have been occasions on which we were cut. For example, when there was an interruption [to power
supply] -
[Presenter, interrupts] No, I do not mean technical issues here. I mean political, matters of principle.
[Pozner] Once. It has happened once.
[Presenter] Can you tell me what the subject was?
[Pozner] It was after the State Duma elections, with Rodina's showing strong. So in my commentary I compared it
to "Frankenstein", the 18th-century English author Mary Shelley's novel.
[Presenter] I thought that that had been aired. Or was some of it removed?
[Pozner] Some of it was cut, in particular the bit that he created this monster out of corpses, which gave some
people a fright, shall we say. But that was the only occasion. Konstantin Ernst realizes full well - and I have said -
that if this ever happens again, it will certainly send me a signal that that is it.
[Passage omitted]
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
