Online President

What is Medvedev catching on the net?

Online President. Dmitry Medvedev opened the political season with the article “Forward Russia!” For the first time, the head of state chose an online publication as a platform for speaking, inviting readers to a discussion and promising that all comments and suggestions would be taken into account when preparing the text of the message to the Federal Assembly

Article by Dmitry Medvedev "Forward Russia!" was published in Gazeta.Ru on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the publication, and the next day the president sent congratulations on the anniversary to the editorial office. In the first 24 hours, according to Mikhail Mikhailin, editor-in-chief of Gazeta.Ru, more than 200,000 people read the presidential note, leaving more than 1,000 comments on it. According to The New Times, the editors of Gazeta.Ru learned that Medvedev would send his article the day before, and the publication became possible after long negotiations with the Kremlin: “Even before the presidential elections, we offered cooperation in the format of an online interview, then there was a conversation about a blog, but the Livejournal format turned out to be objectively more convenient, then the conversation turned again to an online interview with the president, and in the end we agreed that Dmitry Medvedev would write a program article for us. We just had to wait for it to happen."
The president's article, of course, was reprinted by most of the Internet media, while others even claimed that Medvedev wrote specifically for them. For example, the pro-Kremlin resource VZGLYAD.RU claims that it received the text directly from the presidential administration and considered it exclusive: “All questions to the presidential press service. We received the article and we published it,” Vzglyad editor-in-chief Alexey Sharavsky told The New Times. (According to the chief editor, 100,000 people read the article on VZGLYAD.RU in a day.)
However, the president's press secretary, Natalya Timakova, stressed several times that the text was written specifically for Gazeta.Ru.
According to The New Times sources in the presidential administration, not everyone in Medvedev's entourage considered it right to publish an article on the website of an independent resource - Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's main ideologue, was among those who disagreed.

Virtual Democracy

The focus of Medvedev's article is "five strategic vectors of the country's economic modernization": energy production efficiency, new nuclear and information technologies, development of ground and space information transmission infrastructure, production of modern medical equipment and medicines. Here, however, the president could not resist and moved down to the style of his predecessor, noting that he would not allow a return to the "democratic" nineties with his "paralyzed state". However, he also spoke about the need to reform the country's political system and develop democratic institutions - however, he did not give details of this very "reform" and "development". The finale of the article is reminiscent of a breakthrough before the finish line: the article, sustained in a measured style, is suddenly replaced by an emotional denunciation of the opponents of modernization, who want to "until the end of the century squeeze income from the remnants of Soviet industry and squander the natural wealth that belongs to all of us." “They (groups of corrupt officials and doing nothing “entrepreneurs”) do not create anything new, do not want development and are afraid of it,” Medvedev is indignant. But the future does not belong to them. It belongs to us. There are an absolute majority of people like us. We will act."
"Dmitry Medvedev is not going to give up power, this declaration is one of the most important goals of the article," political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky believes. - Against the backdrop of the growing rumors about his imminent departure and the unfolding PR campaign of Vladimir Putin, it was important for Medvedev to indicate that it was he who determined the political agenda. Therefore, he did not wait for the message to the Federal Assembly, but opened the political season with this article. Putin's answer can now be anything, but he is unlikely to be able to interrupt this move of the president.
According to Belkovsky, by publishing his article on the Internet, Medvedev is appealing, firstly, to people with liberal views, and secondly, to those who are technically savvy. “The vanguard of Medvedev's modernization has been designated,” the political scientist says. - This, of course, is not 80% of the population, but the audience is quite impressive. These people are really interested in modernization, and besides, they are critical of Vladimir Putin.” President of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovsky believes that Medvedev's target audience is mobile, creative, sympathetic people who are interested not in the "thaw", but in the established rules of the game. “There is a conflicting theme in the text of the presidential article,” says Pavlovsky. - Putin's majority is heterogeneous. There are people in it for whom modernization is harmful, and they oppose it. Medvedev wants to neutralize them.” “The president has already flirted with liberal publications more than once. Remember his interview with Novaya Gazeta,” says Georgy Satarov, president of the INDEM Foundation. - Medvedev's statements sound so out of touch with reality that it seems that a person lives in another country. What do his arguments about democracy stand against the background of the Moscow election campaign? It seems that Medvedev is not aware of what is happening.”

Social Network #1

Gleb Pavlovsky believes that the president is trying to create on the Internet a kind of social network of his supporters. “A publication in a newspaper would be more semi-official, less popular,” says the head of the FEP. Mikhail Mikhailin believes that when choosing an Internet resource for publication, Medvedev is addressing, first of all, people who do not watch TV. “I think the president was interested in the online audience, because the Internet allows you to understand the reaction of the audience instantly.”
Gazeta.Ru is now launching a public discussion on its site following the results of the presidential speech. It is planned to attract both politicians and businessmen to it. How this discussion will affect the final text of the presidential address, the public will be able to find out in a couple of months. The president is going to address the Federal Assembly in late November or early December. At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s response to “Forward Russia!” may also appear. The newspaper "Kommersant" will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and since the duumvirate coincides with its performances for media anniversaries, this is an excellent occasion to publish, for example, the article "Russia, back!"

Alexander Mityaev and Ekaterina Savina took part in the preparation of the material

photo on the main page of ITAR-TASS