Paul
Goble
Staunton, February 17 – The explosion
of nationalist discussions on the Internet, Pavel Gusev says, is the direct
result of the Russian government’s restrictions on traditional media that do
not allow for the discussion on their pages of issues of concern to many
Russians and non-Russians.
The editor of “Moskovsky komsomolets”
who is also chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moscow told that group
yesterday that the Kremlin by its restrictions on the media is driving people
to look for information that the official media aren’t not now providing (nazaccent.ru/content/19467-gusev-nazval-razgul-nacionalizma-v-socsetyah.html).
He noted that is paper is the only
one of the four federal newspapers which is privately owned. But because of
restrictions on what can be discussed, Russians are turning to the Internet
which often is an “irresponsible” place and where people have their views reinforced
rather than challenged.
The situation is only going to get worse,
he warned. Some 20 percent of traditional media in Russia will cease to exist “before
the end of the year” largely but not exclusively as a result of the economic
crisis. Unfortunately, there too the government
is helping: By destroying kiosks, the government has cut into the sales of
many.
Gusev said that he has called on
Vladimir Putin to include the number of kiosks per capita in his rating of
governors because that provides a useful measure of the risks to which the
traditional media are now subject.
No comments:
Post a Comment