In Tatarstan, the authorities again court the press If an official invites the press to dance, then there is no doubt that he will crush her leg. At the same time, he will not be at all embarrassed, but will begin to explain to her the expediency of his clumsy maneuver ....

In Tatarstan, the authorities are courting the press again

Well

If an official invites the press to dance, then there is no doubt that he will crush her leg. At the same time, he will not be at all embarrassed, but will begin to explain to her the expediency of his clumsy maneuver.

The noticeably limping press of Tatarstan is once again invited to the dance. By the decree of President Mintimer Shaimiev, the Tatmedia agency was created in the republic. Nowhere in Russia is there such a state superstructure, but nowhere are there such newspapers that print photographs of the impeccable head of the region in every issue and, therefore, deserve special care on his part.

As they explained to journalists, Tatmedia is not a body of direct control, although the agency will also solve personnel issues for state-owned media. The new organization of 27 people, of course, is called upon to “coordinate and regulate”, and creatively interact with those who do not understand in a good way. Through tenders, state orders and tax breaks, the government of the republic intends to develop the space of non-state media, and this sowing campaign very conveniently coincides with the election campaign.

The concern for the media in the republic is peculiar. Experienced journalists remember that it manifested itself most convincingly during the days of the State Emergency Committee, when the same president issued a decree on the creation of a censorship commission, unprecedented in the regions. Of course, it was decently called and also had to "interact and coordinate." The text of the decree was submitted to local newspapers for publication on August 21, but on that day the GKChP collapsed, and the decree was instantly canceled. Messengers from Shaimiev's administration hurriedly took the document from the editors, and only Vechernyaya Kazan (from which the censorship managed to crudely remove several materials in those days) did not return the decree, but printed it as evidence of the unscrupulousness of the republican government.

- And what's wrong with that? - referring to the creation of the commission, Shaimiev asked journalists the day after the fall of the State Emergency Committee.

Well, if nothing bad, then it was not necessary to cancel the decree. And by today, all issues with the press would have been finally settled.