Echo of Freedom

In the news...editor-in-chief of the main opposition radio station Echo Moscow is due to leave the board of directors in an untimely re-shuffle and other encroachments on the free press prior to the March elections.

Alexei Venediktov – the editor-in-chief of the radio station Echo Moscow – is a bit of a phenomenon or, as some might say, a lucky bastard. Despite having been under the control of Gazprom-Media group (a subsidiary of the oil giant closely connected with the Kremlin) for the past eleven years, Echo managed not only to remain the focal point of opposition broadcasting, but to maintain its reputation as an independent source of political analysis – perhaps too independent. At a meeting with the editors-in-chief of the major media outlets on January 18^th, Vladimir Putin accused Echo’s journalists of undermining Russian national interests by playing into the hands of Western critics and, wait for it, ‘pouring diarrhoea over me, day and night’. Always one for a strong word, the Prime Minister. A month later, the news of restructuring of Echo’s board of directors well ahead of schedule, with Venediktov and his assistant editor Vladimir Varfolomeev due to resign, makes drawing a political connection simply irresistible.

In an interview published by the daily Kommersant, Venediktov calls the situation a pirate’s ‘black mark’ – a psychological pressure on the station, and him specifically. Since the purchase by Gazprom Media in 2001, none of board members held a control package, dividing representation as four members from Gazprom, three Echo Moscow shareholders and two independent directors. But, as Gazprom Media holds the control package of shares on the market, it now insists this be represented in the boardroom. So, Venediktov will leave the board voluntarily, to prevent the loss of independent directors, making the representation five-two-two. The pro-government sources like to point out this voluntary resignation, while everyone else seems to think he had no other choice but to leave or ‘be resigned’. What immediately raises a few eyebrows is the fact that both new independent directors studied law in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), one of them taking the same course as Dmitry Medvedev, although there are no suggestions of any close affiliation. They were suggested for this position because they have no connection to Gazprom Media, Gazprombank, Gazprom itself – or Echo Moscow for that matter, but hardly anyone doubts the fact that they will be dependently responsible to either the President or the Prime Minister – who, after the March 4^th election, will become the same person, and one who is pretty damn angry at the radio station and particularly its unruly captain.

Interestingly, Venediktov himself does not think Putin gave the order for the re-shuffle, doubting the timeline: the suggestion to bring the election of the board forward from July to March came in December. The public scolding happened in January. There is no direct link, he claims. But surely Gazprom Media was aware of the dissatisfaction with the editorial board in the Kremlin before Putin’s outburst – especially following the harsh criticism of the December parliamentary elections. Perhaps, as Venediktov claims, there was no direct order ‘to kill’ (or ‘drown’ – a untranslatable Russian mix between the two). But now Gazprom Media is directly responsible for his position, as according to the station’s policy a board majority can dismiss the editor-in-chief. The problem is, though, that the new editor has to be nominated either by a share-holder with no less than 3% equity or by five members of the journalistic staff. Then, the candidate has to be supported by no less than 50% of the workforce, who have been at the station for no less than three months. To change this directive, 75% of shareholders’ votes are necessary, and Gazprom currently owns 66% - meaning that it can only change the law with the help of the staff. This makes firing Venediktov a little easier, but replacing him almost impossible. It is hardly likely that many of the journalists, if any at all, will be willing to betray the man who has become a icon of free speech and the fight for democracy in a state which has been continuously antagonistic to both.

Of course there are other explanations for the shake-up. Kommersant suggests it might have to do with Gazprom Media’s dissatisfaction with the advertising policy at Echo, which has so far failed to fully exploit its potential. Another slant is that the attack is directed at the general director of Gazprom Media itself – Nikolai Senkevich. Maybe. Anything is possible. But there has been a number of recent developments that draws focus to the political aspect. December 13^th, 2010 saw the firing of the general director of Kommerstant holding corporation as well as the editor-in-chief of Kommersant Vlast’ (power) following the publication of an election ballot with words ‘Putin, go fuck yourself’ scribbled in red across it on the front page. A potent anti election-fraud statement - and so the paper paid its price. On February 16^th, 2011, within days of the announcement of restructuring at Echo, Mosskovskiy Komsomolets reported a proposed litigation that will allow the Russian internet registration administrator, Ru-Center to shut down any website it considers harmful or unlawful within a secondary .ru domain – so msk.ru, org.ru, which fall directly under its domain. On the same day, the district attorney’s office opened a case against an independent opposition TV station Dojd’ (‘rain’), investigating the origin of funds used for its broadcasting of the ‘For Fair Elections’ protests in December and January. Again, on the same day, Venediktiov was called into the DA’s office to discuss the complaint made by one of the listeners concerning the fact that the station’s policy disallows journalists from being members of political parties. (Apparently, the plaintiff has been rejected from a position at Echo as he was an active member of the opposition Party, Yabloko.)

Gone are the days when SWAT teams with faces covered in black masks used to storm the offices of unwanted media organisations. The independent network NTV was famously subjected to what has become known as ‘Maski-show’ in 2001 – prior to its ‘purchase’ by Gazprom Media. Now the tactic seems to be legal reshuffling and manipulation. Some might think that it’s progress. However, it seems that while previously the government still needed to use obscene force to scare and intimidate into submission, now the unlawful practices have become so cemented in Russia’s political canopy, that just a small nudge from Putin is enough to suggest that this bucket of ‘diarrhoea’ you are holding over his head is about to be tipped over you. Anytime now.