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Politicization and Self-Censorship in the Russian Media

Appendix 2: Changes in Editorial Policy and Ownership at 'Izvestiya'

"Izvestiya" is one of the oldest Russian publications. In August 1997, it published its 25,000th edition. From 1991 to early 1996, the newspaper had a predictable and stable editorial line. It supported the economic reforms associated with Yegor Gaidar and Anatolii Chubais. It generally supported President Boris Yeltsin, although it criticized certain presidential associates, government ministers, and policies (especially the war in Chechnya). It strongly opposed the Communist Party and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

24 January 1996: In the aftermath of the hostage crisis in Pervomaiskoe, Dagetsan, "Izvestiya" publishes open letter to Yeltsin from human rights defender Sergei Kovalev. In the letter, Kovalev explains why he is resigning from the presidential human rights commission and reproaches Yeltsin in extremely harsh terms. ("At times of crisis ... you and the leaders of state departments appointed by you deign to offer us lies so obvious and hopeless that it is simply staggering ... You began your democratic career as a feisty and vigorous fighter against official lies and party despotism and are ending it as the docile performer of the will of cynical power-lovers from your entourage ... I am not going to vote for you. And I will not advise other decent people to do so." Soon after, "Izvestiya" commentator Otto Latsis follows Kovalev's lead and resigns from a presidential commission.

February-July 1996: "Izvestiya" supports Yeltsin re-election effort, publishes favorable coverage of the president and unrelenting negative coverage of Communist candidate Gennadii Zyuganov. Yeltsin's disappearance from public view a week before the second round of the election is not reported. Pro-Yeltsin television commercials feature the well-known "Izvestiya" logo above the mock headline, "Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin: President of All Russians."

July 1996: Criticism of Yeltsin's policies gradually reappears in "Izvestiya." However, Sergei Kovalev complains that the newspaper refused to publish his open letter to Yeltsin and then-Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed, demanding that they keep their campaign promises to end the war in Chechnya.

August-September 1996: "Izvestiya" publishes criticism of Yeltsin more frequently, eventually begins to cover the president's health problems.

November 1996: Oil company LUKoil, in which the state is the largest single shareholder, purchases stake in "Izvestiya." Editor in chief Igor Golembiovskii declares that the sale will bring capital investment to the newspaper but will not affect editorial policy.

1 April 1997: "Izvestiya" reprints, without comment, article from the French newspaper "Le Monde" alleging that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has amassed a $5 billion fortune. The article erroneously describes a question on Chernomyrdin's wealth asked by a representative in the U.S. Congress as a statement by a U.S. official.

2 April 1997: Government spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov denies "Izvestiya" report on behalf of the prime minister.

7 April 1997: LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov complains about the "Izvestiya" publication concerning Chernomyrdin. He charges that the paper's sloppiness hurt LUKoil's business reputation, as readers might assume the article was an attempt by LUKoil to discredit the prime minister. Alekperov says the company may sell its stake in "Izvestiya." He adds that LUKoil is not trying to influence the paper's editorial policy but is merely looking for a better investment.

15 April 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes editorial charging that the government sought to impose "political censorship" after the newspaper reprinted the article from Le Monde on Chernomyrdin's alleged vast wealth. The paper says government officials pressured the 36% state-owned LUKoil to act as Chernomyrdin's "censor."

17 April 1997: "Izvestiya" claims LUKoil is seeking to replace the paper's top journalists, in violation of an earlier commitment not to interfere in the paper's editorial policy.

18 April 1997: "Izvestiya" journalist Stepan Kiselev writes that there is a trend toward diminishing press freedom in Russia. He claims that officials in the government and presidential administration have recently sought to punish newspapers for publishing criticism of leading politicians. The same day, "Izvestiya" publishes an appeal signed by several intellectuals and cultural figures denouncing attempts to turn the paper "into an obedient mouthpiece for its new masters."

22 April 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes front-page appeal asking Yeltsin to help resolve the conflict between the paper's journalists and LUKoil. Chief editors of more than a dozen publications sign the appeal, which also asks Yeltsin to prevent shareholders from forcing "Izvestiya" and "Komsomolskaya pravda" to change their political lines. The open letter notes that Yeltsin promised in a recent radio address not to allow censorship to return to Russia. ("Komsomolskaya pravda" agreed to sell a 20 percent stake to Oneksimbank, Russia's third largest bank, in March 1997. In May, shareholders voted to replace that paper's top editor, who had lobbied for selling the shares to Gazprom instead.)

23 April 1997: At a shareholders' meeting, LUKoil appoints a new "Izvestiya" board of directors, composed of four representatives from the oil company and three from the newspaper. "Izvestiya" staff had sought unsuccessfuly to to delay the shareholders' meeting.

14 May 1997: "Izvestiya" announces that it has sold shares to Sidanko, an oil company in which Oneksimbank holds a controlling stake. The article denies LUKoil's claim to own a majority of "Izvestiya" shares. Journalists presumably hope that Oneksimbank, considered close to the paper's longtime ally Anatolii Chubais, will be a buffer against LUKoil.

15 May 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes article alleging that some influential officials in LUKoil have criminal ties. The article, signed by the newspaper's "analytic center," claims that Prime Minister Chernomyrdin's personal patronage has allowed LUKoil and its subsidiaries to escape punishment for owing at least 1.2 trillion rubles ($208 million) to the federal budget.

4 June 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes charter signed by the paper's journalists with major sharesholders LUKoil and Oneksimbank. The charter calls for the creation of a seven-member board of directors, with three representatives from the newspaper's editorial collective and two each from LUKoil and Oneksimbank. The editorial collective retains the right to nominate candidates for editor in chief, who must be confirmed by the board. Journalists declare a victory for media freedom. The charter promises that the paper's editorial policy will be determined by its journalists "without any outside influence." It says the paper's objectivity is not tainted by any "conflict of interests" or "corporate goals."

23 June 1997: Seven-member board of directors elected for "Izvestiya."

1 July 1997: In an unsigned commentary, "Izvestiya" accuses LUKoil of failing to respect the charter it signed with the paper's journalists. "Izvestiya" says LUKoil is now insisting that it, Oneksimbank, and the journalists each propose a candidate to become editor in chief. The oil company wants the board to have the right to choose an editor from among the three nominees.

1 July 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes article by Leonid Krutakov accusing First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais of accepting an interest-free $3 million loan from Stolichnyi Bank in February 1996, when he did not hold a government post. The article alleges that the bank credits went to the Center for the Defense of Private Property, which Chubais had created shortly before. The center reportedly put up no collateral for the loan, the stated goal of which was the "development of civil society." The bank credits were allegedly used to speculate on the lucrative treasury bill market. Krutakov's article charges that as presidential chief of staff later that year, Chubais helped Stolichnyi acquire Agroprombank. Some analysts believe Oneksimbank is behind the article; others view the article as a "parting shot" from outgoing editor in chief Igor Golembiovskii.

4 July 1997: "Izvestiya" board sacks Golembiovskii and approves a process for selecting Golembiovskii's successor that reduces the influence of the paper's journalists. Journalists will vote for editor, and the board will select a candidate from among the top three vote-getters in the balloting.

5 July 1997: "Izvestiya" publishes a letter from First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais refuting allegations published in the newspaper on 1 July. Chubais remarks that he would have expected to see such accusations published in the pro-communist newspaper "Sovetskaya Rossiya." He also notes that he personally helped "Izvestiya" fend off attempts by the opposition-dominated Supreme Soviet to take over the paper in 1992.

10 July 1997: "Izvestiya" reports that its journalists are forming a trade union after not being unionized for the last five years.

18 July 1997: "Izvestiya" board of directors appoints Vasilii Zakharko as the paper's new editor in chief. Zakharko had served as deputy editor of "Izvestiya" since February 1996 and had been acting editor in chief since Igor Golembiovskii was forced out. Shortly before Zakharko's appointment is announced, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Anna Kachkaeva reports that most "Izvestiya" journalists were discouraged by the selection process and have little hope that the new editor will be independent of LUKoil and Oneksimbank.

July-August 1997: "Izvestiya"'s coverage of conflicts over the privatization of the telecommunications giant Svyazinvest and Norilsk Nickel are noticeably biased in favor of Oneksimbank's point of view. However, two commentaries published on 7 August argue that the Norilsk sale took place under unfair conditions that contradicted Russia's national interests. (Those commentaries were a parting shot by journalists who soon quit "Izvestiya.")

August 1997: Golembiovskii announces plans to create new newspaper, "Novye izvestiya." He promises that the paper will be truly independent. Some 30 journalists from "Izvestiya", including some of the paper's most prominent commentators, quit in order to join Golembiovskii's new project. Mikhail Berger, former chief economics correspondent for "Izvestiya", takes a senior post at the newspaper "Segodnya." That paper is owned by Vladimir Gusinskii's Media-Most company, a leading rival of Oneksimbank.

October 1997: "Novye izvestiya" publishes pilot issue. The newspaper is reportedly financed in part by Boris Berezovskii's LogoVAZ group. Berezovskii attends a 26 October party to celebrate the appearance of the pilot issue.

29 October 1997: Journalist Leonid Krutakov claims he was fired from "Novye izvestiya" for publishing an article criticizing Berezovskii in "Moskovskii komsomolets." Krutakov tells "Komsomolskaya pravda" (like "Izvestiya", part-owned by Oneksimbank), that Golembiovskii refused to publish criticism of Berezovskii in "Novye izvestiya."

6 November 1997: "Novye izvestiya" publishes article on alleged bribery of State Duma deputies by financial and industrial groups. The article singles out LUKoil and Oneksimbank, accusing them of buying votes to get key legislation passed in the lower house of the parliament.

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special reports 1997

A paper by Laura Belin, a specialist on Russian affairs at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It was presented at the national conference of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Slavic Studies, Seattle, Washington, November 1997. The author can be contacted via email at laurabelin@mailexcite.com:

	Introduction
	Owners Attracted by Power of Media
	Media Squeezed by Market Realities
	How Financial Dependence Slants News Coverage
	The Impact of Media Coverage
	Prospects for Development
	Regional Media Even Less Free
	Conclusion
	Endnotes
	Appendix 1: Russian Media Empires
	Appendix 2: Changes in Editorial Policy and Ownership at 'Izvestiya'