The news programs also available in Russia via a satellite, started with a long report covering HIV infection in donors’ blood in Voronej, then they screened a plot on sequences after poisoning with Chinese chemicals in the Amur River. At the same time, journalists told about Russian realities with a cruel openness.
There was less official information on the RT in comparison with the Federal channels. During the first two hours there was no surname “Putin” heard on the RT.
The first day of the new channel proves several important conclusions. First, it is quite obvious, the RT was allowed not to keep with the Federal channels but to have its own point of view on events taking place in the country, certainly, in frames of consciousness. Indeed, the channel will not be the Russian BBC. The new channel’s interests mostly lay in cultural heritage, people of rare professions, Russian suburbs.
Secondly, as evident, the fifteen years of market have not passed unnoticeable and the state is going to implement in an active way the market relationships experience even concerning propaganda. In fact, we speak about the project on an information model already tested in the inner market to transfer it to the outer world.
Nowadays the state controls three Federal channels – Perviy kanal (ONE channel), Rossiya (Russia), and the NTV (via Gasprom (Gas Industry)). Regardless observers’ forecast, they are not alike each other as twin-brothers. News on the NTV are still of great difference with news on “the first” and “second” buttons. The changes happening on the Russian TV channels are not casual at all. Upon the market influence, free will or forced, “the buttons” are starting to take a unique position and to work for a certain audience.
Rossiya is obviously nears the segment called a mass market by market investigators. This is quite unpretentious audience which has very little awareness on goods and services which it uses. The main part of this customer group is people with compulsory education and even lower who are engaged in jobs of law salary. The NTV is drawing attention of the so-called middle class. And Perviy intends to work for the same audience as “the second” does; however, it manages to do this worse year by year.
Changes taking place on the REN TV are of a special interest. After all well known staff changes, changes in information policy of “the button” followed. Already on Wednesday, on 7 December, they gave some important news screened by all Federal channels, i.e., explosion of a living block of flats in Moscow, dispute on gas among Russia and Ukraine, Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Ukraine, and HIV scandal in Voronej. Nevertheless, the latest news program on the REN TV at 23:30, first, informed on a Kuznetsk Basin General who shot a pensioner while hunting on ducks.
The news was not screened by other channels, only the NTV informed on it in the program “Emergencies”. Till present, there was no real yellow news on the Russian TV but the REN TV new managing board has all chances to correct this deplorable mistake.
The Russian TV nowadays is a unique experiment on creating a market sample on propaganda. The state intends to apply the same scheme of financing in a foreign broadcast as well. In a talk with a journalist of “Nezavisimaya gazeta” (Independent newspaper), Director General of the Russia Today Sergey Frolov said that the channel had to start self repaying in several years. It is not clear till now whether he is going to introduce subscribing fees, however, it is known, there will be an advertisement. The channel was designed for the Western audience; potential advertisers should also collaborate for it. Evidently, European and American Companies will have to be advertised on the Russia Today.
Andrey Lomkin