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Why a Newsletter? This may seem to be an odd time to start a newsletter on media law and policy in the former Soviet Union. Law seems to have been, at least for the moment, what was at the end of a barrel of a gun, rather than something in the constitution or the statute books. The “events” of September 21 and their aftermath, including the storming of the White House, put the steady efforts toward pluralism and the rapid development of a free press on a course that, for the moment, can only charitably be called treading water. Still, how current events are managed, how the process of democratization will be reformed, the relationship of media to upcoming elections—all of these will be of great interest. Also, it is important to place the fall 1993 events in context. A number of organizations, government agencies, foundations, press agencies, and businesses are deeply interested in the health of the mass media in the former Soviet Union and the relationship of a vigorous press to the progress of democracy. The purpose of this newsletter will be to gather the kind of information necessary for informed discussion. A number of publications contribute to this process; the prism in this newsletter will be law and regulation. The nature of the media law, the evolution of privatisation, the existence and functioning of governing councils—all of these affect the possible growth of democratic institutions. These presented intriguing questions before President Yeltsin suspended the Parliament; they are intriguing now, even more, to determine whether the project of establishing a rule of law is really going forward. In terms of the upcoming elections, scheduled for December 12, the structure of access to the media will be an important question. We expect to discuss the question of elections and the media in an upcoming issue. This prototype issue has been prepared by a committee consisting of Monroe E. Price, a member of the Commission on Radio and Television Policy, who served as editor, Andrei Richter, a professor of journalism at Moscow State University spending the year at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Peter Krug of the Folay and Lardner law firm in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition, we have benefited from the substantial institutional expertise and assistance of Dr. Ellen Mickiewicz, member and executive director of the Commission and, Robert Karl Manoff, director of the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media, and co-chairman of the Russian-American Press and Information Center. The newsletter is, in many ways, an outgrowth of the activities of the Commission on Radio and Television Policy, and the leadership of President Carter, its chair, and Professor Mickiewicz. The Center for War, Peace and the News Media at NYU has supported the development of this prototype and provided the substantive and logistical support that made its publication possible. This newsletter will continue to be a collaborative undertaking, and if you want to participate in any way (sending comments, corrections, material, etc), please consult the masthead where more details about phone numbers and addresses can be found. |
Last Updated: 11/20/99 |
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© 1999 Post-Soviet Media Law &
Policy Newsletter |
