American Patriot
06-02-2004, 12:47 PM
Russia has never had free speech so why start now?
Russian TV Network Sacks Rebel Anchorman
MOSCOW (*******) - A leading Russian television broadcaster, NTV, sacked its top anchorman on Wednesday for rebelling against changes to his program in a move that fueled fresh public fears of media censorship.
Leonid Parfyonov, one of the best known faces on Russian television, protested on Monday after NTV bosses withdrew an interview with the widow of a Chechen rebel leader killed in Qatar, from his flagship weekly review Namedni on Sunday.
Parfyonov rejected NTV reasons that the interview could cause problems for two Russian agents, now on trial in Qatar, on charges of killing rebel Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
He said the decision to take the interview off the screen had been made under pressure from the security services.
"I said from the very beginning that I will not take part in covering this up," an unrepentant Parfyonov said on Wednesday.
"I will go public and will not take blame for this shame," he told *******, adding he knew he was likely to be finished as a political TV reporter in Russia, where controls on the media have tightened.
A curt statement on NTV's Web site said Parfyonov had been dismissed and his program stopped because he had violated his contract, under which he was obliged "to support the company leadership."
MEDIA CLAMP-DOWN
NTV, Russia's first independent television station, was taken over by the state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom for debts in 2001, amid a political battle between the Kremlin and its first owner Vladimir Gusinsky, who finally emigrated.
President Vladimir Putin has denied involvement in what he described as a commercial dispute between Gazprom and Gusinsky.
But his critics have accused the Kremlin leader of stealthily clamping down on independent media in the four years he has been in power and muzzling public criticism to ensure his runaway re-election in March this year.
Parfyonov was among the few leading NTV journalists who stuck with the company after the takeover, giving credence to Kremlin and Gazprom assurances that NTV would stay independent.
In an earlier interview with the liberal newspaper Izvestia published on Wednesday, he said: "One needs to understand at last: information is a value by itself. It cannot be harmful, useful or useless."
Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russia's Journalists' Union, Igor Yakovenko, as saying Parfyonov's sacking had shattered his remaining illusions.
"If hitherto we knew there was censorship and state control over nation-wide channels, we still had a measured openness in which elite television journalists were allowed some freedom," Yakovenko said.
"Now it turns out that no one is allowed anything and the television channel does not even care about its ratings," he added.
However, two other leading Russian journalists -- TV anchorman Vladimir Pozner and Alexei Venediktov of Ekho Moskvy radio -- told Russian news agencies the conflict might have been caused by Parfyonov violating corporate ethics.
Parfyonov said his sacking would probably mean an end to his career as political reporter.
"I understand perfectly well that I will not be allowed anywhere close to running political programs," he told *******. "In fact such programs exist only on major television channels, all of which are state-controlled."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/040602/11/p9w5.html
Russian TV Network Sacks Rebel Anchorman
MOSCOW (*******) - A leading Russian television broadcaster, NTV, sacked its top anchorman on Wednesday for rebelling against changes to his program in a move that fueled fresh public fears of media censorship.
Leonid Parfyonov, one of the best known faces on Russian television, protested on Monday after NTV bosses withdrew an interview with the widow of a Chechen rebel leader killed in Qatar, from his flagship weekly review Namedni on Sunday.
Parfyonov rejected NTV reasons that the interview could cause problems for two Russian agents, now on trial in Qatar, on charges of killing rebel Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
He said the decision to take the interview off the screen had been made under pressure from the security services.
"I said from the very beginning that I will not take part in covering this up," an unrepentant Parfyonov said on Wednesday.
"I will go public and will not take blame for this shame," he told *******, adding he knew he was likely to be finished as a political TV reporter in Russia, where controls on the media have tightened.
A curt statement on NTV's Web site said Parfyonov had been dismissed and his program stopped because he had violated his contract, under which he was obliged "to support the company leadership."
MEDIA CLAMP-DOWN
NTV, Russia's first independent television station, was taken over by the state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom for debts in 2001, amid a political battle between the Kremlin and its first owner Vladimir Gusinsky, who finally emigrated.
President Vladimir Putin has denied involvement in what he described as a commercial dispute between Gazprom and Gusinsky.
But his critics have accused the Kremlin leader of stealthily clamping down on independent media in the four years he has been in power and muzzling public criticism to ensure his runaway re-election in March this year.
Parfyonov was among the few leading NTV journalists who stuck with the company after the takeover, giving credence to Kremlin and Gazprom assurances that NTV would stay independent.
In an earlier interview with the liberal newspaper Izvestia published on Wednesday, he said: "One needs to understand at last: information is a value by itself. It cannot be harmful, useful or useless."
Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russia's Journalists' Union, Igor Yakovenko, as saying Parfyonov's sacking had shattered his remaining illusions.
"If hitherto we knew there was censorship and state control over nation-wide channels, we still had a measured openness in which elite television journalists were allowed some freedom," Yakovenko said.
"Now it turns out that no one is allowed anything and the television channel does not even care about its ratings," he added.
However, two other leading Russian journalists -- TV anchorman Vladimir Pozner and Alexei Venediktov of Ekho Moskvy radio -- told Russian news agencies the conflict might have been caused by Parfyonov violating corporate ethics.
Parfyonov said his sacking would probably mean an end to his career as political reporter.
"I understand perfectly well that I will not be allowed anywhere close to running political programs," he told *******. "In fact such programs exist only on major television channels, all of which are state-controlled."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/040602/11/p9w5.html