"Ministry of Good News"

On July 9, Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov proposed the creation of a state body to "regulate the flow of information": "This body would be engaged in state regulation. Recently, information with a negative connotation has been given on federal channels, including television and radio," and meanwhile, "interesting and positive events are taking place in many regions of Russia, a lot of good things are happening, but this does not find coverage ... This does not mean the introduction of some kind of cruel censorship, but it is in the interests of the state's security. " Moreover, S. Mironov said that the commission on information policy of the Federation Council is already developing proposals in this area. However, this information has not been confirmed.

The media unambiguously took these statements of the speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament as a proposal to introduce censorship. Interestingly, a few weeks later, S. Mironov's statements were actually supported by the correspondent of "Moskovsky Komsomolets" Alexander Minkin. After analyzing the news programs of one of the Russian federal channels and comparing them with the news of the Swiss TV channel, he concluded that “we have more than half of the death stories. They have a third. And the main difference is that they do not show [highlighted by the author - ed. ] corpses" . The journalist believes that the presence of cruelty on the screen, including in news programs, forms a corresponding perception of the world, first of all, among adolescents: "Our tomorrow seems to be monstrously cruel," he concludes, without doing anything conclusions. But in "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" there were arguments that "for showing a shock spectacle" [in the TV news program - ed. ] in England, a TV channel was deprived of its license, and in our country "the word "censorship" plunges intellectuals into sacred horror, although it still agrees to accept some restrictions on freedom in the form of the Criminal and Civil Codes" .

To the question "What, in your opinion, is television most in need of?" science fiction writer Alexander Gromov briefly and clearly answered: "In censorship . "

Supported the speaker and "ordinary" readers of the press. Thus, a letter was published in Izvestia, the author of which "is ready to vote for the immediate introduction of the most severe censorship on TV, cinema and video. I am ready to sacrifice freedom of political speech from the screens if it is not possible to limit censorship only to entertainment programs. " He believes that if, as a result of the introduction of censorship, some channels go bankrupt, then the survivors can be provided with state support, "because the problem is a state one!"

However, the "results" of such "censorship of bad news" were noted by observers within a few weeks.

For example, on October 1, Semyon Novoprudsky in his article "RusAl and the Dolphin" analyzed the news release of one of the all-federal channels for September 27. The Izvestia observer noted that the issue consisted of two stories - coverage of the meeting between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush at Camp David and the birth of a baby dolphin in one of the Russian dolphinariums. In this case, is it any wonder that TEFI received the Kultura channel for the best news program: , and the other is equally dangerous: ideas about a world that does not exist are driven into people's heads ... In the news, I want

information. And if for some reason it is impossible to inform, let television stop showing the news altogether,"* he concludes.

In January 2004, S. Mironov again returned to the idea of ​​censorship. This time in the form of a "nationwide public media council", which is "necessary in order to determine the information policy in the electronic and print media. It's time to stop the flow of porn and smut that falls upon us from TV screens" and in which no will include officials, deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council. "I would already now propose the candidacies of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Daniil Granin. Solzhenitsyn would never have allowed such a situation that we are seeing from the screens today, and I would entrust the moral health of my children to these people," S. Mironov said .

The Federation Council speaker's statement was related to the publication of data from ROMIR-Monitoring, according to which 76% of Russians do not object to the introduction of censorship. [Let's note for ourselves that if 76% of Russians do not like what they publish and show now in the media, then who then reads and watches all this? - ed. ].

However, commenting on S. Mironov's statement and the survey data, Vremya Novostey notes that, firstly, most likely, Russians yearn not for censorship, but for professionalism, which, indeed, is scarce in the media, and secondly, although "the struggle with lack of spirituality" - "a profitable business (in every sense - from sculpting a political image to redistributing finances)" , however, S. Mironov hurried again, because if this idea were in demand by the Kremlin, then television, which "is now sufficiently dependent on the state" would respond immediately.

Maxim Sokolov also made his commentary on the ROMIR poll, also emphasizing the incorrect formulation of the question and talking about sociological hack work in general and, in particular, about "hack work on the topic of state repressions" .

Kostyukov Anatoly. Restorers // Nezavisimaya Gazeta. July 11, 2003
Kuznetsov Valery. Rimbaud vs. Myshkin // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 2003. 14 July.
Alaytsev P. Evil holidays // Izvestia. 2003. 13 August.
Minkin Alexander. Black box // MK. 2003. 5 September.
Novoprudsky Semyon. "RusAl" and a dolphin // Izvestia. 2003. October 1st.
Telemetry // Literary newspaper. 2003. October 8-14.
Eroshok Zoya. Children ate ice cream // Novaya Gazeta. 2003. November 3-5.
Chairman of the Federation Council insists on the creation of a public media council // Official website of the MPTR. 2004. January 14
Nemzer A. The fight against lack of spirituality is a profitable business // Vremya novostei. 2004. January 16.
Sokolov Maxim. On the usefulness of censorship // [GlobalRus.ru]. 2004. January 16.