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Independent Media in Russia Needs Support from Civil Society says GFMD

The GFMD proposed a new approach to media development in Russia focusing on forging links and cooperation between journalists, media organisations and civil society groups. GFMD Director Bettina Peters launched the idea of more cooperative programmes at the conference: Lessons of Glasnost: Media in the Post-Soviet Arena that took place in Moscow on June 16-17 and celebrated the 20th anniversary of Russia’s first free press law adopted in 1990.

“Not many of the great media initiatives that were launched in the 1990s have survived, “ said Bettina Peters. “In spite of a good press law and lots of media development support, independent journalism in Russia is under pressure. We need better engagement with civil society. If people do not think that they need free media, reliable and independent information, they will not defend journalism.”

The GFMD Eurasia Regional Forum for Media Development, scheduled to take place in Kiev in September will develop new programme ideas to bring media and civil society closer together.

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic recalled that Russia has to protect free expression and media freedom under its OSCE obligations.

“ We congratulate Russia on the 20th anniversary of the press law,” she said. “But good laws are not enough, they must be respected in practice.”

TV host and well-known journalist Vladimir Pozner recalled how Russian state television opened up to the world in 1990 when the first live show linking Russia and the United States – TV bridges – was organised with Link TV in the US.
“You saw more challenging programmes on state TV at the time, than you see on television today”, he said.

The conference host, Mikhail Fedotov of the Centre for Journalists in Extreme Situations outlined the advantages of the press law and called on participants to insist that the law is respected.

The conference was further supported by the Russian Union of Journalists, whose president Vsevolod Bogdanov highlighted the programmes the union is carrying out with civil society support. For instance, the gender media programme and the database commemorating journalists killed in Russia in the last ten years receive a lot of public support.