http://www.newaus.com.au/aatemprus222.html
Ted Turner does
Russian TV deal
Russia
TNA News with Commentary
Friday 6 April 2001 Gleb Pavlovsky: As a result of the Gusinsky-Turner deal
Russia will get a professional American TV channel broadcasting in Russian.
The news about Gusinsky’s sale of his package of NTV shares, along with his
statement carried by Kommersant-Daily, indicate that what we have before us
is a “politics-business” deal so typical of Gusinsky and Berezovsky. That is
to say that Gusinsky is selling not an information (news) channel, he is
selling an agitation-propaganda resource, the most professional at the given
moment.
I consider that as an agitation resource, NTV stands in a class by itself.
It has no competitors. This is a channel that contrives and sells crises. The
current broadcasting strike at NTV demonstrates how crises are to be shaped
and sold. For example, they organize a campaign or show that is called “free
speech - in danger” and then people are encouraged to come out into the
streets to defend — what or whom? To defend a multimillionaire who is
precisely squabbling with a multibillionaire over the sale of his shares.
Truly a brilliant move! And what is up for sale is precisely that
agitation-propaganda function that has been honed to perfection.
Or, take for example, how cunningly they threw in the absurd idea about an
“expected” power solution to the conflict. Understandably, this is a pure
fabrication on the part of “stage director” Gusinsky for the obvious purpose
of provoking the authorities to interfere in a commercial dispute, the
outcome of which does not concern them at all (the authorities are strong
enough to remain indifferent in this matter). Simply, this is an outright
provocation addressed to Putin, a provocation in which Yabloko is also
participating most likely for the purpose of counting on certain financing
within the framework of the overall system of settling accounts in this deal.
One must understand that as a result of the Gusinsky-Turner deal, we shall
have a professional American TV channel broadcasting in Russian, i.e., we
shall have an overt, not a covert American TV channel. This implies that
there is an attempt to turn NTV into a key structure in the strategy of
applying American pressure on the internal political life in Russia. It goes
without saying that such an instrument costs a pretty penny. And I must agree
with Gusinsky — such a professional agitation or brainwashing channel is
certainly worth more than $200 million.
Incidentally, one should not rule out that the strike and the whole line
that Kiselyov is pursuing at the TV channel are the result of a taciturn
parallel deal between Kiselyov and Turner: an agreement aimed at knocking
down the price tag on the deal. Political manipulations with the commercials
at NTV, when commercials are turned into alphabet noodle soup between
political brainwashing, can lead to the point when advertisers will recall
their contracts that were after all signed up with a working TV channel
rather than with a political campaign.
From the point of view of political technologies, one can only welcome the
fact that Russian political propaganda specialists will now have on the
domestic market such a professional foreign competitor as the “Turnerized”
NTV — an instrument for putting direct and continuous pressure on our
internal policies. I welcome this because I consider that professional
training of Russian specialists in that field is possible only in a regime of
a real conflict. So far, that side is smarter and more professional than the
Russian side.
I would single out the weakness of the state in that conflict since
bureaucracy is playing the main role here. The apparatus has taken the
conflict into its hands, and as usual, it is playing its role sloppily. After
all, the conflict surfaced as a result of the way the apparatus handled the
dispute of property ownership in the information market.
Gazprom’s stand reflects a purely bureaucratic apparatus style: it is trying
to look after its own interests. It has squeezed out from participating in
this conflict both public and professional forces, including other owners in
the media market. Apparently, Gazprom also has its own monopolist objectives
in this question. The apparatus style allows NTV to score political points in
this conflict because the latter is not afraid to call in its support groups.
In particular, regional TV broadcasters are compelled to watch how Gazprom’s
apparatus game leads to the point where they will encounter a very dangerous
competitor in their market. In this sense, I would say that the bureaucratic
approach to the conflict without taking note of its purely legal nature and
without mobilizing those forces that could back the state on this issue, does
damage to the interests of the state itself.
In a bureaucratic and politically styled conflict only an open policy can be
the winner. Because in the given situation I consider that the interests of
the state have been violated not only by Gusinsky, but also by Gazprom, as
well as in a certain sense, by the Ostankino oligarchy - the oligarchy of the
four largest TV channels. All of them are interested in seeing all the
solutions being done in the under the carpet, inside the Ostankino TV center.
This jeopardizes the interests of a normal restructuring of the information
market that is now under way.
Up till now NTV lost in competing with regional private TV companies. And
today it is selling out the channel to Americans under the motto "This is the
only independent TV channel in Russia." In reality, the country has dozens of
private TV channels, many of which have in their regions audiences much
larger than those NTV caters to. And now in these regions there will appear
Turner as a competitor of local, private, regional TV companies. This is
dangerous from the competitive point of view for regional TV companies that
do not have the resources to stand up to Turner.
It seems to be quite apparent that the scenario was written precisely for
the upcoming German-Russian summit, within the framework of the Americans'
overall strategy aimed at torpedoing a Russia-Europe rapprochement. Even in
previous times, both Gusinsky and Berezovsky were past masters in contriving
and orchestrating crises from which the profited.
It is understandable that the professional journalist staff at NTV is now
being used as a playing chip in the interests of business-strategy, and in
the event that Turner comes to the helm of the channel, a sharp
de-politicization of the management will be inevitable because the Americans
exclude political games being played by the management. And so, the old
owners will be paying off the new owners at the expense of the journalists'
interests.
With permission of the StranRu Russian news service www.strana.ru
