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CONTROVERSIAL
ORT
PRESENTER TAKEN OFF THE AIR
I.
Controversial ORT presenter taken off air again.
Admirers of [Saturday “Vremya” presenter]
Sergey Dorenko will have to be disappointed again:
he will not go on the air [on 6th March]. But in an
interview with Ekho Moskvy he explained some of the
reasons for this decision.
[Dorenko] On the whole, these removals
and disappearances of mine are connected with fierce
pressure on the channel. When the survival of the
channel is at stake, then I, to be honest, have to take
the decision to remain offscreen in order to preserve the
company and to avoid creating any major problems for
it. Naturally, why should this be a problem, you
will ask. But the reply is very simple.
Russia is now living through a period of the
redistribution of power in the country. The same
applies to the national television. An offensive, a
vigorous offensive is being mounted on the mass media by
the Communists, the special services and government
structures.
Ekho Moskvy radio,
Moscow, March 6, 1999
II.
Controversial ORT presenter to stay off the air.
On [27th February], after a three-week intermission,
the “Analysis” programme was back on the air on
the ORT [Russian Public Television] channel. That
evening, however, the complex situation also became
absurd! First the “Analysis programme with Sergey
Dorenko” logo appeared and then reporter Ivan
Konovalov appeared on the screen and remarked
gloomily: “I have been asked to present this
programme.”
Amusing
as it may be, but the day before the programme went on
air, Sergey Dorenko, while giving an interview to
‘Komsomolskaya Pravda,’ had no doubt that he
himself would present the programme. I had to call
Sergey again.
“On
the one hand, it was a change for the better for
me: the programme appeared under our own
logo. But on the other hand, the situation has
started to become farcical. I am alive and well,
you could send me into space, but I do not want to go
into space. I want to present my own programme, and
that is not what is happening.
“I
can tell you absolutely sincerely: If they sack
[ORT head] Igor Shabdurasulov tomorrow and if the
government sends a KGB general to replace him the day
after tomorrow, then the following day I will resign from
the First Channel. That is why I want Igor
Vladimirovich [Shabdurasulov] to persevere. I
believe that the hysteria around the analysis programme
should come to an end quite soon. After all, the
prime minister is an adult, although his present actions
resemble those of a wild teenager who is acting out his
hang-ups.”
Igor
Shabdurasulov, ORT’s general director, also agreed
to comment on the situation:
“On
[27th February], I called on Sergey [Dorenko], and in the
course of our conversation, we reached the conclusion
that it would be better for the channel if somebody else
from his team presented the programme. There are
changes for the better: a decision has been adopted
in principle that the analysis programme will go on the
air and Dorenko’s team will work on it. Sergey
directly supervises the programme, creates its structure,
and selects the material. But perhaps it will be
presented by one of the team’s analysts. Yet I
cannot rule out that Dorenko will appear on the airwaves
as early as next week.”
‘Komsomolskaya
Pravda,’ Moscow, March 2, 1999
III.
Controversial ORT presenter denies sickness reports.
The “Vremya with Sergey Dorenko” programme
has not been shown for a second week running. The
channel’s official explanation is that Dorenko has
the flu. A ‘Kommersant’ special
correspondent, Nataliya Gevorkyan, has learnt, however,
that the rumours of Dorenko’s illness are highly
exaggerated.
[Gevorkyan]
Are you sick?
[Dorenko]
It would seem so. At any rate, I have read
that somewhere. No- one told me about it.
No-one warned me that I was supposed to be sick.
[Gevorkyan]
So what is going on?
[Dorenko]
I think the channel is and always was heavily
dependent on the state. The current power struggle,
the shift in power from the Kremlin to the White House
[Russian parliament], has influenced the channel and
created a wave of pressure that has been difficult to
resist.
[Gevorkyan]
What form has this pressure taken?
[Dorenko]
From what I have heard, it has taken the form of
direct telephone calls and direct demands. They are
not calling me, however. Luckily, I have such a bad
reputation that they are not calling me . . . .
[Gevorkyan]
Is it usually so easy for you to agree with their
decisions?
[Dorenko]
I agree that there has been no personal freedom and
that business has not been free of the state for a single
minute in Russia. It is on that basis that I either
agree or disagree with everything else. I have a
large team and, as I once told you, I cannot afford to
buy a TV channel for my team now.
[Gevorkyan]
Has the team stayed out with you or has it been
working on the “Vremya” programme?
[Dorenko]
We are putting together some special reports.
We are putting some of them on the air and we are holding
the ones that can wait.
[Gevorkyan]
Are you still involved in the preparation of the
Saturday broadcasts?
[Dorenko]
No.
[Gevorkyan]
How long will that last?
[Dorenko]
I do not know. Maybe the fierce attacks will
stop and we can all relax a little.
[Gevorkyan]
On your last show you made a mistake. I am
referring to the item about the prime minister’s
family.
[Dorenko]
That was just a minor point. In essence, I
said—and I am happy that I was the first—that
[Prime Minister Yevgeniy] Primakov had not really been
focusing on the economy in the past five months. He
was concentrating on controlling the media and law
enforcement agencies.
[Gevorkyan]
Still, getting back to that mistake . . . .
[Dorenko]
I reported that an article in the January issue of
the “Airline Business” magazine said the prime
minister’s family was in the airline business.
I not only cited the source, but also held up the
magazine and pointed to the statement in the
article. That report cannot be denied: The
magazine did publish that information. Our lack of
any information about the prime minister’s family
cannot be denied either. Considering Raisa
Maksimovna and the impression she made on people, this
may be a good thing, but it is also a characteristic of
the leaders of the Politburo era. That seems
strange to me.
‘Kommersant’
web site, Moscow, February 16, 1999
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