he. had. held areas. of the situation. after the government political. training. over the country. the russian government and its policy

towards the mass media that all comes into the spotlight. well again they're welcome to spotlight into the show on i.t.i.l. they're not banned today my guests on the show. the russian parliament has recently passed to. the first would criminalize defamation and the second easy battling of the website if they are considered. the most civil rights groups opposed the war they could curtail internet and media freedoms in russia so it is

free that involve the press at risk and what is the russian new government's current policy towards mass media move discuss it with the man in charge of the russian deputy communications minister i would say border. is a well known russian politicians and public relations professional he started as a journalist a media manager and switched to politics in the mid ninety's he was then in charge of public relations and information policy in the russian president's administration mr ball and politics in two thousand and three business but almost a decade later he was appointed deputy communications minister he is now responsible for the state mass media policy and intends to make market orientated. say who welcome to the show thank you thank you very much i'll hold thank you very

much for being with us today it's a great pleasure to have you well first of all let's start with your minister with your boss mr an e.q. for of he was appointed during this post the election reshuffle of the cabinet he's also i think the youngest cabinet minister in the. history of the modern russia even in this drama how old is he he's twenty thirty he was appointed when he was twenty. two d. he's already thirty that's the that's a record breaker right so does this mean does this mean i mean the point of a young minister of yourself and a whole new whole new team came to the ministry a change of policy anything new of the sle. well first of all i want to say that unfortunately where i am not as young as i want to be. that's why i suppose that we don't have the revolutionary changes in the policy of

our ministers. are well if they speak serious i can see that there will be the dramatic changes are in the policy or the ministry because the mystery of communications at that period when it was headed by eager to show that if you. did a lot of very useful and. important themes or a connecting with the comfort of the citizens and with the openness of the government or the state services because of the previous team made great and tremendous we're all connected with the government different government and they really created a very good base for the further development of the industry and for the further development of these terrorists and there were openness the new team will continue

on the themes they what the did do when they did. now we have some new tasks but this is not a revolutionary task. this is the task we grows from our life for our present life it's connection with a new generation of communication. so you know that the communications of the core the mobile communications are or before the generation that were started in russia last week. they connected with a new set of us is over the open government the connected with the public television which was proclaimed by the president will talk about it step by step ok and that but i'm sure you get to you'll get the greatest consent creating this easy govern because maybe because the prime minister himself is

a great fan of all these gadgets and he will try and of all things i mean the i want to refresh your mind there the president of russia mr putin that he was also very much and was a project of the twenty government and universal and spoken about the internet and stuff i mean he doesn't speak much about internet itself but he spoke a lot about the electronic services as used to fighting corruption are not on there as a very important. for the comfort of the governor or the citizens because they idea is easy access is a access and no q. mr on taking your new position you said that you will try to develop russian media as a market well what do you mean because because i thought i thought we do have a media market in that way yes we have the volume of our media market east ten

billion dollars per year. so our ideas. iis that if we have a market this market should demand. and we should create the conditions are for the further development of this market because these market leaves in the conditions of very strong competition. of their world competition cheaper and also in the changes of the new realities because. me and day. remember you and i remember. the time when must media was something special everybody was proud that he was a part of most media while still believe a true yeah but now the things that change and the time to change at the present moment you don't need to have your own newspaper or your own television you can be a private person and you can organize your own media with the help of the internet

with the. small web camera or small or fought on the make in blogs in this society there is now the media is not the only source of the information at the present moment everybody being the source of the information but markets connected with the media and we should think how they should believe in the new reality well speaking of you said yes we should think well it occurs to me that many people in this country who is job is to think of how i should work with the presidential administration likes to speak as being actively involved in determining a constructive state policy towards a mass media now you yourself your ministry within the cabinet is also doing the same so so how how is your competence them or catered and who's exactly responsible

for what. i want to start from you. there is only one person in this country who has been interest in how are you work this is your address in chief my boss you write. so. about now about all the others. there is the president of russian federation who is acquitted in the constitution of what in the main law. that are mines the main. topics and the main guidelines or the policy including the media policy the presidential administration is monitoring how the presidential decisions are being implanted being enforced. in the reaction. the presidential administration also takes part in the workin out these guidelines and helped to the president. prepare this policy.

the government as a tease. just conducting these policy interrelated so the presidential administration is this control how these things are being be in force and the government just the instrument of this policy here are giving a complicated one honest answer to a simple question you're a journalist yourself you used to be a journalist you say well you know you're on the other side of the story on the other side of the fence so what i was asking is that is that you are supposed to be you yourself personally today responsible in this government for i quote state policy towards media so i want to understand what kind of policy are you going to conduct and are you going to implement when you know that. the only state policy

allowed in this country by the constitution is to lead mass media function freely. yes it's the main state policy and we should monitor on that nobody a. make a problem for the mass media to work a thriller but there are another tasks one of our task is to help for mass media created the new business and other our task ease. all the other laws which also connect in with the mass media include. for example we have a lot of discussions about of the allure about advertising. because it is not a secret that a lot of our mass media have a problem we are some governmental. institutes connected with advertising or some people suppose that there is no ads in russian for the ration some people suppose that what is advertised and what is not

advertised and some people suppose that advertising program is everything which is connected with this or that business or several with a brand yes brand it means that all our economic news papers all our economic t.v. and radio programs is advertising so we should help our media. force these ideas. then. we have a lot of situations connected with media relations for example license for example you formation for example we work in the with the mess media in the crisis situation as fluid for example the licensing is a nightmare is how many how many mass media. in russia the idea of the figure i don't have that i have the if you go about the printed media have any. forty two

thousand three hundred thousand printed media in russia that that that that. ok we'll continue talking about all this after a break alex a warning russian deputy communications minister due to my studio spotlight will be back called to break them.

welcome back to spotlight and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is alex fevola russian deputy communications minister i think what we term we we started talking about you would know that were within the russian government monitoring the situation with the russian media censorship is one of the most sensible matters for russia because because well to be frank we both know we knew we both lived in the time when the when the government was the main problem for journalists working in this country

right so now today many people whenever we see new law or when we see new regulation now we see a new minister and you deputy minister will are what we were going to happen let's talk about censorship censorship is against the law but there are behind the scenes deals of government officials with owners of owners with editors in chief and so on and so forth do you think this can be this happens not only in russia all around the world is this considered to be sort of a censorship no no no it is not a censorship it's an influence so so so it's a it's not a purely because of another color ok so it's not against the law which means that you may meet my editor in chief we who as you rightly said is my only boss and said listen i want alexander enter the show to do this or that and this is right and this is wrong i like this and i don't like that it's interference it will be your interference in my work first of all i don't have the legal

instruments and effective instruments of the influence for your editor in chief because if you're really independent it means that you economically independent and for example let's start from the private. media let's start from the government media because the major malfunction. media are straight ok let's start from the government media if you like these but i want but i want to start from the right and there because i wrecked in the private media i was. the president of private or publishing house and i know that i have the owner he has his own business and i always know that if my own or want to do something. interests i should work for that he's own interests because he pay he

pays for these media from his own pocket and he want to have the proper profit from this media. little or we know that all the information policy of these are there media depends only on one person he's editor in chief and i am absolutely sure that it should be but on the other hand i am absolutely sure that if their own or the media asked his editor in chief to do something the editor in chief have one hundred percent right to say that he does agree the owner have one hundred percent right to fire he is editor in chief and to change him that's when my point of view is the proper situation the same situation you have

on the plant the same situation you have on the from the same situation you should have in your own for example for example. with you i was working ok now this same situation with the governmental. media. you have one owner and this is the state if you disagree with the state you can say my own or i disagree with you your owner can tell you ok you can continue work or police finish your work i need another detention. you do on my part my position is for your own money you can do everything what you like if you want to be absolutely independent as editor in chief you have only one week to buy your gold to make arrangements to buy your own money and to have your own media so this is why you're so much concerned about developing. developing a real market situation in the media yes yes the because the real market situation

in russia means the real freedom of mass media we me and you we both worked in both government and private media do you would you agree with me that in russia it has always been a more free situation for the journalists to work in government or media because the private media were always more sort of. yeah you can control your cause because more control yes you can see it's easier to cheat on the government with just lots of people who are there you know if you work in the government media the government is a lot of people and it's very difficult for their music to maneuver just the one you were in private media have only one bourse only one owner or it was a start let's talk about defamation well it's a very interesting situation because because the the video of president medvedev was a president but short time ago definition was excluded from the criminal code now

it's returned to the criminal code well many journals and the fine for defamation it will be a prison sentence up to five million rubles which is more the nearly two million dollars. it's a maximum well well it's a lot so so do you would you agree that that this may be used as as a means to influence journalists to manipulate journalists or are very much worried about that anything mainly differently because it is first of all let's start from the five million rubles is it much or not five rubles. less than two hundred thousand dollars two hundred thousand a year less than a private for a private journalist that side summarize what i want to refresh your memory. about v. well or arguments because when these for that person or this or that

company or. suppose that they are a victim of the different nation they apply to the court and as usual how much they want one million dollars or two million dollars and so forth it means the least some is not so good. this is so on the market level. where would you were you understand where i'm coming from it would be it would be very hard to to to to to do investigative journalism to accuse for example for example government officials but other so original officials are of missed doing this if this is there from ation the extent that how warm these particles of the different mission was in the criminal court over russia now you know it was many many years and it was not the obstacle. so what does it mean it mean that for that long period of time these article was not the obstacle and

everybody can do what they want white people now suppose that it's an obstacle this is that they're injured and so on and so forth. i can say more several years ago there was that jail penalty. for the different there is no jail penalty at the present moment there is only fines but if your this article becomes more liberal so but again explain to me why the ruling party the united russia party excludes defamation from the criminal code under president medvedev six months ago or so and then six months later under prime minister medvedev it once again votes to bring you back into the groove why is that really what's going on there must be something behind that this is what worries the journalistic community. i think that the main reason for these. a lot of people know they be in the trade

the case is that. you always have influence from various sites one influence you have from the journalistic community another influence you have from the business community and from all the other people you know that a lot of person in russia and rather influential person including the big business that want to. have the different nations article because they suppose. that if. it can save their reputation well. we have the journalists you are now i was in the process and we know that our colleagues are not the engines no no nobody's perfect yet nobody's perfect and sometimes there is real differential. it is not often but it happens if we have the formation we should have an article and another argument well i'm doing it well if

you call me an angel is a definite would be defamation and not because because if i nominate you i'm the bad. well it. can't be the harm of you listen it really started well we started with your boss then we as ways to do to discussing my relation with my boss let's get back to your boss once again and he suggested i mean mr and mr and if you for that know that your ministry will work on amendments to this new law concerning concerning changes in the from asian law and also not i know it is that they could he didn't say about the definitional or he is . only about. the likely thought we had little interest so he said that you will be working under one kind of amendments made these be we have we faced one problem this problem is that the laura. about the black least on

the internet so called know about them that they saw internet or about the fight against the child or child the childish partner of him. was elaborated. without the participants or the industry and that's why there are some things in this law which can not work in the real life so the idea of the real story is these can be improved. we first of all we want to have the safe internet we don't want to have put another feel we would don't want to have the advertising of the dress we don't want to. have the propaganda of sue site. in these cases were absolutely agree with out deputies of the state duma without or with our parliament but

we suppose that some ideas which the right wrote in the law didn't work so we want to make this mechanism more useful and more real that's why i would propose to organize the consultations with the media consultations with the industry consultations with their lords with the ministry to elaborate the ways which can improve lease law and these mechanisms well even if nobody's perfect we still can have perfect laws or at least try to have them thank you thank you very much we want to create the perfect life but thank you. and just a reminder that my guest today was alex a volunteer russian deputy communications minister and that's it for now from all of us here spotlight we'll be back with more original comments on what's going on in and outside russia until then they aren't r.t. and take it it. as

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