Post-Soviet Media Law & Policy Newsletter

Issue 21     Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law     September 27, 1995 

Signs of the Times

1.  Romanian Journalists charged with Slandering Iliescu.

    Romanian and international media reported on 18 August that prosecutors in Bucharest indicted two Romanian journalists on charges of “insulting [state] authority.” Sorin Rosca Stanescu, the editor in chief of the daily Ziua, and Tana Ardeleanu, who works for the same publication, were said to have been “fabricating lies” last May, when Ziua alleged that President Ion Iliescu had been recruited as a KGB agent during his student days in Moscow in the 1950s. Iliescu denied the allegations. According to the prosecution, Ardeleanu never set foot in Moscow, where she claimed to have obtained documents proving the links. If found guilty, the two could face imprisonment of between six months and three years, under a new law that critics say is aimed at gagging the freedom of the press. — Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

2.  Foreign and Violent Programming in Russia.

    Radio Russia reported on a study carried out by the independent company, Russian Public Relations, in June. Its researchers aimed to find out which of the five TV channels at the federal level showed the most foreign programs and on which channel viewers most commonly see scenes of physical violence. The study was conducted because “such scenes have a negative effect on one’s state of mind, especially for children and youngsters.”

    The report obtained the following conclusions as to foreign programs: on the average, foreign programs occupy 23 per cent of airtime on the five channels. Each channel, however, shows a different proportion. On the Russia TV channel operated by the All-Russian State TV and Radio Company- VGTRK and on TV6 Moscow, foreign films and TV programs occupied about a quarter of broadcasting time; on the ORT Russian Public TV channel, 18 per cent of airtime; on the St Petersburg channel operated by the St Petersburg municipality 10 per cent; and on the NTV channel Moscow commercial station - Independent Television, foreign programs take up 68 per cent of the airtime, about two out of every three hours.
 According to the report, “as borne out by the statistics, the average American film is notable for containing much violence, which is often cruel and senseless. That is why it is not surprising that NTV was in the lead when it came to the showing of scenes of physical violence. On average, on all five channels, the figure is 22 per cent per channel per day, but NTV accounts for 50 per cent; almost 2.5 times higher.”

    At the same time, according to the Russian research company, which polls 1,000 people in the European part of Russia every day to find out the audience figures for different TV programs, NTV attracted the largest number of viewers so far this year when it showed a famous old Soviet comedy, “Caucasian Captive.”

    “It seems that people have become weary of mediocre American programs which show violence and reflect values not shared by the majority of people in Russia.”

3.  Tajik restrictions on foreign news.

    According to an August 8 ITAR- TASS report, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan has circulated a statement critical of the decision by the country’s leadership to ban departmental press services from providing local and foreign journalists accredited in Dushanbe with any kind of information. The statement characterized the step “as a toughening of control over the mass media.”

    The statement said that written warnings were received by the press services of the command of the joint peacekeeping forces and the Russian border troops in Tajikistan. As a result, the presidential press service has the exclusive right to circulate the information. It aims to “avoid the circulation of biased information” . Thus, many of the other press services find themselves in an uncertain situation.

    According to the Democratic Party statement “the Tajik authorities began their fight against the independent mass media in March 1992, when the previous Supreme Soviet adopted amendments to the country’s press laws.” The authors of the statement said that since December 1992 six newspapers have officially been banned and over 20 newspapers have been closed down due to persecution. Over a period of three years, 37 journalists have been killed, dozens have been imprisoned and more than 100 correspondents have been forced to emigrate from Tajikistan.

    For all this time, “the country’s population has found itself in a tough information blockade, practically unable to buy not only Russian newspapers and journals, but also foreign publications,” the statement said. The Democratic Party of Tajikistan considers the decision by the country’s leadership to be “a gross violation of the rights of journalists and the press, and an unjustifiable introduction of censorship” , and insists on its immediate cancellation.

4.  Slovak Official Attacks US Media.

    Roman Hofbauer, a parliamentary deputy of the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, sent a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Russell complaining that the U.S. press uses sources originating outside Slovakia and reports on Slovakia’s political scene in an “non-objective and disparaging way,” TASR reported on 26 July. The U.S. Embassy responded by issuing a statement saying that Hofbauer “demonstrated regrettable ignorance about how the independent press functions in a democratic society.”

    In an interview with TASR on 28 July, Hofbauer said his complaints were based on articles sent to him by Slovak Americans who feel “deeply provoked and offended.” The Permanent Conference of the Civic Institute on 28 July called on the Slovak Foreign Ministry to distance itself from Hofbauer’s statements, noting that they put the country’s foreign policy orientation into doubt. Meanwhile, Slovak officials have also launched attacks against RFE/RL’s Slovak Service, whose license is up for renewal this year. — Sharon Fisher, OMRI, Inc..

5.  Polish Minister Avoids Crisis.

    Polish Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko, representing the treasury as the owner of Polish Television, announced on 1 August that he has approved the PTV Board of Director’s audits for 1994, Polish media reported. The minister postponed his decision in May. His announcement puts an end to rumors that both the board and PTV chief Wieslaw Walendziak would be removed before the presidential elections. Walendziak has been accused of right-wing sympathies by the left-wing ruling coalition. — Jakub Karpinski, OMRI, Inc.

6.  International Protests Against Albanian Censorship.

    The Article 19 International Center against Censorship has sent a letter to Albanian President Sali Berisha protesting the arrest of Filip Cakuli, chief editor of the satirical magazine Hosteni 2000, and the journalist Naim Noka, Koha Jone reported on 1 August. Both journalists were detained in late June by the secret service SHIK until they agreed to change the covers of their next issues (see OMRI Daily Digest, 3 July). The German satirical magazine Titanic has also issued a protest saying that items confiscated during the arrests had been given to the Albanians during a visit to Germany in February. Elsewhere, the International Federation of Journalists protested the trial against the chief editor of Populli PO, Arban Hasani. He faces charges that his newspaper wrongly reported that a SHIK officer was arrested for ordering a killing. — Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc..

7.  Latvian Law Restricts Foreign Programs.

    A report on Latvian radio dealt with the August 24 passage by the Saeima parliament of a radio and television bill which restricts the activity of Russian mass media in Latvia. The new Latvian radio and television law stipulates that only 30 per cent of programs can be in foreign languages, which could cause great difficulties to several Latvian television stations which mainly broadcast in Russian. Aleksandr Rannikh, Russian ambassador to Latvia, wrote to ORT calling on the company to put pressure on Latvia to allow Russian programming.

8.  Belarus President Chides Press.

    Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka sent a letter, at the end of August, to the chief editors of newspapers, information agencies and other mass media in the country with his concerns about content.

    According to radio reports, “In his letter, the head of state draws attention to the fact that after the referendum held in May and before the repeat elections of deputies to the new Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus, some mass media chose not to observe the provisions of the law of the Republic of Belarus on printed and other mass media concerning the responsibility of editors and journalists to broadcast true and verified information.

    “The president is worried that the message of human decency, dignity, duty and responsibility to the nation and the motherland is being substituted by political talk about the so-called new culture, unrelated to the needs of society.

    “As the head of state within the framework of his constitutional powers, Alyaksandr Lukashenka believes it is necessary and topical to draw the attention of the mass media to the problem and expresses his hope that the atmosphere in the Belarusian media will change.

9.  Slovak Council Halters RFE.

    According to a report by the Slovak news agency, TASR, at its August 22 and 23, the Slovak Radio and Television Broadcasting Council evaluated provisions of licenses to the two principal foreign radio stations broadcasting in Slovakia in the Slovak  language:  BBC World Service and Radio Free Europe (RFE).  At the end of the meeting,  Peter Juras, chair of the council, announced that BBC’s license had been renewed for a full six years while RFE received a license only until December 31, 1996.  Juras suggested that RFE had violated its own professional code.

    In Juras’ words, the editors and speakers of RFE spoke with an “ironic tinge” and often misinterpreted information. According to a report from the Czech news agency CTK, he said that RFE broadcasting lacked “impartiality or efforts at objectivity.  It was only the “sharply anti- totalitarian character” of the broadcasts before the November 1989 fall of communism which led the council to grant even a one- year license.

    In a radio interview, council member Pavol Stevcek (Movement for a Democratic Slovakia) said that “We had many serious reservations about the content and the bias in RFE broadcasts.  Originally, RFE played a very positive role before the independent Slovak Republic was founded.  Since the declaration...this radio has not got a single good word for the Slovak Republic, its politicians and the ruling government coalition in particular.  RFE is mocking the Slovak politicians who are currently in charge...we therefore hold serious reservations about the conceptual and programming strategy of RFE.

    “Naturally,” Stevcek said, “we will keep monitoring RFE and keep in touch with the RFE journalists and their management and will see whether the conditions we spelled out to them are being observed.  It should be pointed out that these conditions are based, to a large degree, on the RFE code of p[ractice.  So it is not just our idea.  We want to look at what the RFE journalists say that they believe in and then at what they actually do.”

    Designated material in Signs of the Times was printed with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic. For more information on OMRI publications, please contact info@omri.cz.