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28 March 2024

Russian TV opens up on protests in surprise thaw

Published
By AFP

After ignoring protests against election results for a week, Russia's state television took a surprise decision to cover nationwide rallies at the weekend, hinting at a lifting of taboos.

The move, which seemed unthinkable just days before, was dictated by the sheer amount of protesters and discussion on the Internet as well as public commments on the rallies by the ruling tandem of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, experts said.

"This is something important. It is pushing back the boundaries," said media analyst and radio presenter Anna Kachkayeva.

The top-rated news show on Channel One led with the Moscow rally, while another Kremlin-controlled channel NTV reported openly that protesters believed Prime Minister Putin's ruling party had committed fraud in the polls.

In previous days television turned a blind eye to hundreds of arrests at Moscow rallies, including that of charismatic opposition blogger Alexei Navalny.

But when more than 50,000 people gathered opposite the Kremlin for a rally sanctioned by the authorities, it became impossible to ignore.

"It became absolutely obvious that they simply had to show the events when so many people had gathered," said Kachkayeva.

"The numbers of people were so great that not to show it became a professional crime," agreed Arina Borodina, television critic for Kommersant daily.

"People who work on television haven't lost their marbles. They understand that not showing this would go beyond the rules of the profession."

A Kremlin source told Gazeta.ru news site that President Medvedev personally decided to run the reports.

The extent of Kremlin control versus self-censorship in television is unclear. But it seems unlikely channels would show politically sensitive material unapproved.

By Thursday, both Medvedev and Putin had mentioned the protests, yet there were still few signs of them on state television.

"It seemed a bit schizophrenic," said Kachkayeva.

Television channels began reporting Saturday's planned rally two hours after its start, she said.

"When it became absolutely clear that it was peaceful and articulate, they decided: 'Well what to do? We have to show it."

Channel One stressed the rally was peaceful and officially permitted. And it downplayed polics, showing a poster with the slogan "Love each other, people!". Yet it gave a rare glimpse of former first deputy prime minister turned opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who has said he was on a "black list" of politicians.

"Just two weeks ago, it would have been almost impossible to imagine that Nemtsov would be shown on Channel One," said Kachkayeva.

NTV, notorious for showing smear documentaries on Kremlin opponents, won praise for its balanced coverage, calling the rally the decade's largest.

The protesters "felt the need to come to the rally because they believe there was something fishy about the polls", said the report, presented by newsreader Alexei Pivovarov.

A rumour circulated earlier that Pivovarov had threatened to walk out unless the rally got fair coverage, denied by NTV.

NTV wrote defiantly on its Twitter: "So does anyone have complaints left about NTV after today's 7:00 pm broadcast?"

Analysts tracking news found almost no mention of mass rallies until late Wednesday, two days after they started.

"I was honestly amazed... At first some channels showed a few tiny pictures...then on Tuesday there was absolute silence," television critic Irina Petrovskaya said on Moscow Echo radio station.

She compared Internet and television as "two parallel streams that never meet".

Television staff "were afraid. They did not know how to react", said Borodina.

But experts cautioned against expecting any dramatic changes.

"There's no point in being under any illusions. This was done in a concrete situation when up to 100,000 people came out and the picture spoke for itself," said Borodina.

"The situation on television as whole will not change."