Post-Soviet Media Law & Policy Newsletter

Issue 22     Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law     October 19, 1995

Teapot Tempest?  ORT Drops Solzhenitsyn and Dorenko

    In the hyper-world of pre-election concerns, Sergey Blagovolin, director-general of Russian Public Television, ORT, was besieged in late September and early October over the channel’s decision to drop Sergey Dorenko’s “Versions” and Solzhenitsyn’s weekly fifteen minute program as well. Every step, including scheduling changes and the continuing reorganization of state-run broadcast television, is examined in an exercise in censorship jitters.

    In an interview with Komsolmolskaya Pravda, Blagovolin said that Dorenko’s program was being taken off for three main reasons. “The first is the truly low rating for the program, something like 4 per cent. The second is that the program is incredibly expensive. ORT is paying a ridiculous amount (several hundred thousand dollars) for “Versions” and the quality of the program is obviously not in keeping with our expenditure. 

    “There is one more reason. I spent many hours in talks, and very interesting talks, with Mr Dorenko. And all the time I tried to prove to him that the program was political: That he, in putting a political program on the first national channel, was becoming if not a political personality then at any rate one taking part in the political process. I said: “Serezha, the program is not simply political, it is increasingly political.” I explained that this is a not entirely a correct work ethic.

    Blagovolin also said that he had replaced the manager for socio-political programs. “He was a very nice man but he could not cope with his job. You will not find a single serious television channel in the world whose management knows exactly what is to be screened two hours before it is broadcast.”

    Blagovolin attributed the changes to an overall look at the ORT programming schedule. A first phase of the change, submitted by the management was found “too thematic” by the board of directors and did not mention specific producers. 

    “I myself started the development of a whole series of music programs. And in general I support the development of classical music on the channel. That is the channel’s responsibility to Russian culture-classical music. As for light music, “Kvinta” of course is on ORT. But to speak of monopolization is like saying that Mosfilm in Russia has raked in the entire film industry. And in general you must not forget that the schedule is not the Bible, written to last for centuries. 

    Solzhenitsyn has also disappeared from the ORT schedule “despite our great regret,” according to Blagovolin. “There is now an enormous number of political programs in this election time. And we must drop some political programs. Solzhenitsyn had a unique opportunity for six months to speak on ORT every week. It is hard to accuse us of not allowing him to say something. 

    “There are many people who want to fuel passions. But in my view nothing out of the ordinary has happened. This has all happened on other channels too. Programs have opened and closed and presenters have come and gone. Dorenko too. But where does this nervousness and fuss come from? Have they dropped programs like “Press-club,” “Rush Hour,” “Vzglyad,” and “One on one” ? There are the most diverse people included there.

    This is not a “new October coup.” This is not a revolution, it is an important step on the path of the channel’s evolution. We believe that this is movement in the right direction. If someone believes that what we are doing is incorrect and wrong, then others will do it.

    “Political censorship on ORT does not exist,” Blagovolin said. There was dispute as to the extent of pre-screening “Versions” had endured and what kind of controls had been exercised. Dorenko claimed that “Versions” was previewed by a specially-appointed official before going on the air. 

    Blagovolin also said that a major step will be taken in the screening of films, especially in the structure of their screening. Thus, the attention paid to Russian and Soviet films will be sharply increased: The amount of home-produced films broadcast will increase by 150 per cent. Western films, including serials, will not be forgotten on the ORT channel either. But all these productions must be of a sufficiently high standard. 

    NTV, which snapped up Dorenko’s program, reported that “Many journalists felt that ORT is taking programs off the air for exclusively political reasons. Sergey Blagovolin, however, said there was no political censorship on ORT, although judging by what he said, the channel does indeed come under a certain amount of political pressure. It emerged that this was why Solzhenitsyn’s weekly program was dropped.” 

    NTV also reported that Blagovolin “is aware of attempts to bribe some members of ORT’s staff, from politicians who want airtime and that the level of corruption at ORT reflects the Russian average.” Very soon, according to the NTV report, ORT will regulate the procedure for granting airtime and its cost to the candidates for deputies’ positions. 

    Vladimir Lukin, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma, was quoted as describing “as a shame on Russia the decision to cancel the program ‘Meetings with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’ on ORT. “You may or may not like the program and you can like or dislike Solzhenitsyn, but you must remember that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is also a symbol of the new, democratic Russia.” 

    “The departure of Dorenko from ORT and the removal of the Solzhenitsyn program on the eve of the elections bears witness to the fact that all is not well with our mass news media, especially the state ones. This will damage us greatly in the Council of Europe.”