#9
gazeta.ru
November 21, 2002
Media calls on Putin to veto new curbs

For the first time in the post-Soviet history of Russia the entire journalist community including both state-run and private media companies have united their efforts in an attempt to prevent the enforcement of new draconian amendments to the law on mass media and fighting terrorism, approved by the parliament in the wake of the Moscow hostage crisis.

The media community on Wednesday signed a petition urging Vladimir Putin not to sign the controversial bill into law and promised to develop an effective code of behavior for reporters covering terror attacks and other emergencies.

The heads of the leading TV channels, radio stations and other media outlets gathered in Moscow’s Grand Hotel on Wednesday in order to notify the president of their standpoint on the changes to the laws on mass media and on combating terrorism passed by the Federal Assembly and to urge him to veto the amendments.

The amendments to the law, which went through both houses of parliament with big majorities within two weeks of the seizure of a theatre by Chechen rebels, are, according to the official theory, designed to prevent the use of mass media for the propaganda and justification of terrorism.

The revised bills ban the dissemination of information containing statements from people opposed to counter-terrorist operations. From now on, the media will not be allowed to publish data concerning the specialized methods and tactics of the security forces during counter-terrorist operations, in particular, operations to free hostages, as well as anything promoting or serving the terrorists and extremism.

Furthermore, the journalists will be prohibited from divulging information concerning the personal data about the security services’ employees and members of the operational headquarters for conducting counter-terrorist operations, as well as those people who render assistance to the Security Forces, without their consent. The law also bans publishing information on technology for making weapons, ammunition and explosives.

However, the amendments have caused uproar in the Russian media community. Many claimed that they lack clarity and therefore are open to broad interpretation, which may turn the law into an instrument for pressuring disagreeable media outlets. The deep concern for the future of media freedoms in Russia brought the heads of state-run and private media companies, and the leaders of competing journalist unions together.

Wednesday’s gathering saw top media managers put their differences to one side and greet each other amiably.

The Press Ministry’s top officials took their seats close to the chairmen of two leading state-run channels – the First Channel and RTR; the editor-in-chief of the independent Ekho Moskvy radio station Alexei Venediktov took his seat across the table, together with the editors of Izvestia and Kommersant Daily; the president of the Glasnost Defence Foundation Alexei Simonov sat together with his counterpart from the Union of Journalists Anatoly Bogomolov.

Before the discussion began the media bosses jokingly exchanged complaints.

''Take, Ernst, for instance, he shows Maskhadov, and I can’t,'' complained Ekho Moskvy’s radio station, looking at the First Channel head Konstantin Ernst.

''And what shall I do with materials featuring Maskhadov, I have some too,'' wondered the head of the Ren-TV network Irene Lesnevskaya.

''Keep them,'' Venediktov advised, ''they may still prove useful later. When the talks begin…''

In his opening address to the session the head of the First Channel Konstantin Ernst noted that in the weeks that have passed since the hostage drama in Moscow, the media community has been actively discussing their conduct while covering the crisis, and ''we have learned our lesson from the tragic situation''.

Ernst admitted that the media community is aware that, unfortunately, tragedies like that may take place again in the future, and therefore, the heads of the leading media outlets and journalist unions have gathered ''to offer the president their approach to the situation with changes to the law on mass media and on fighting terrorism – namely, to ask him to veto the amendments''.

On behalf of the entire media community Ernst harshly criticized the amendments that ''can be applied so broadly that they will not have the desired effect''.

Ernst said that the media community hopes that after the president vetoes the bill, the journalists, together with the authorities, will work out the general rules for media coverage of terror attacks and emergency situations. Crisis rules have to be concrete, not open to broad interpretation, and oblige both media and Special Forces to interact during emergencies.

After that, the head of the First Channel gave the floor to Press Minister Mikhail Lesin. He noted that ''in general we fully understand the Federal Assembly’s desire to fill the legal vacuum'', but agreed with Ernst that the elaboration of crisis legislation will require the close cooperation of media outlets, state authorities and Special Forces.

After Konstantin Ernst read out the text of the appeal to the president, those present were about to launch into a discussion on what they would change in the text when Oleg Dobrodeyev, the head of VGTRK which runs Rossia and Kultura, cut them short, noting that ''any delay may entail consequences that would be fatal for all of us''. Ernst then invited his colleagues to sign the appeal.

All those present at the session signed the appeal. The list of 23 signatories included First Channel television head Konstantin Ernst; the head of VGTRK Oleg Dobrodeyev, NTV’s Raf Akopov, Ekho Moskvy’s Alexei Venediktov, Irene Lesnevskaya of Ren-TV, Mikhail Kozhokin of Izvestia; Pavel Gusev of Moskovsky Komsomolets, representatives of the Media Union, the Glasnost Defence Foundation and the Union of Journalists.

In their appeal to the president the signatories said the changes would produce less objective reporting. They recognized that journalists had committed errors during the occupation of the theatre by Chechen rebels last month but said many were linked to the problems in working with the Security Forces organising a rescue operation.

The appeal said the authorities were trying to draw up new laws without taking into account the media's experience which, it said, would hinder the journalistic community's own reforms: ''It will produce precisely the opposite effect – leading several media outlets away from objective reporting of events and also from reporting the country's major problems...

''We therefore appeal to you...to use your right of veto and propose that all those concerned in this process work out a consolidated position and a unified set of rules for covering emergencies.''

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