Xenophobic publications in the Voronezh press

As part of the preparation of a report on the manifestations of xenophobia in the Voronezh region in 2004, the Foundation "For Environmental and Social Justice" made a selection and analysis of regional media materials containing vivid manifestations of hate speech.

more than once Most of these publications are accounted for by the newspaper "Bereg", whose information policy has attracted attention , and even became the reason for to appeal to the prosecutor's office. Voronezh public organizations

The following episode, in particular, can tell about the purposefulness of the actions of the editorial board. On June 22-23, 2004 Voronezh was visited by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation V.P. Lukin. A separate topic of the visit was the problem of anti-Semitic and anti-Caucasian publications in the newspaper "Bereg". The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Svyatoslav Ivanov, was asked to publish a special report by the Plenipotentiary on Xenophobia and Racism in the Russian Federation. On July 2, 2004, the newspaper put Lukin's visit to Voronezh as the topic of the issue. At the same time, a number of materials were published in the newspaper containing attacks against human rights activists and anti-fascists, as well as a letter from Alexander Sevastyanov , in which he justifies the murder of St. Petersburg scientist and public figure Nikolai Girenko.

Xenophobic publications of the newspaper did not stop even after the resignation of its editor-in-chief Svyatoslav Ivanov (September 10, 2004).

In particular, in December, A. Azarov's article "Russian Cross" was published, which, in particular, contained extremely incorrect statements about the natives of the Caucasus: "I do not oppose all Caucasians and Central Asians, I do not call for beating "blacks" .. "And having earned money in "dirty Russia" (this is how they speak contemptuously about our country), they convert it into dollars and take it to their villages and villages. From such trade, the region's economy is inflicted enormous harm. The vast majority of southern merchants come from Azerbaijan "From the same Azerbaijan, where Chechen fighters heal their wounds, where various kinds of Chechen funds openly function. A lot of traders come from Georgia, which is far from being friendly to Russia, on whose territory Chechen fighters have built their hornets' nests ... And among " guests" a lot of antisocial people, drug addicts, but in general - these are people with alien culture, mores and customs ... It would not be time to ask such guests beyond the threshold of our Russia ... Insolent, arrogant, dodgy - took the best places in the Central Market , in other mini-markets of Voronezh ... they do not pay taxes at the same time ... Think about it, those in power, are you really fulfilling the geopolitical tasks of various Islamic centers?" [1] .

However, Bereg is not the only regional publication that publishes xenophobic materials.

In particular, the newspaper "MOE" has an author's section of the writer, journalist, head of the publishing house "Komsomolskaya Pravda - Voronezh" Alexander Lapin "Russian Question", which often publishes extremely dubious materials. Moreover, in some of them one can observe familiar to Russian journalism, to describe social problems through the prism of ethnic intolerance. the desire, already

For example, the author touches upon the topic of "Russian" refugees, who, in his opinion, should have greater rights than refugees of other nationalities. As an example, he cites the migration policy of Germany: "They care about the quality of their population. And instead of guest workers and illegal immigrants, they prefer to deal with blood brothers who were brought up in their culture and speak their language . "

At the same time, A. Lapin gives the following arguments: "Meanwhile, Caucasians and everyone who is not lazy are actively buying up land in the devastated Russian villages. They establish their control in business, grow into the authorities, introducing the laws of nepotism there. " The author advocates the creation of "a national party that would defend the interests of the entire Russian people." "We - Russians - have nothing to share if we do not want to give way to strangers who will take everything ... Russians are too big and complacent people. It took us more than ten years of humiliation and targeted extermination to wake up" [2 ] .

In addition, xenophobic propaganda is often veiled, masked by pseudo-historical speculations. In particular, in the Voronezh magazine, which is published with the support of the Voronezh Regional Administration, in 2004 an article by a certain "ataman of the Savalsky Cossack farm" Alexander Dyagterev "Makhno - the prodigal son of the revolution" was published. It contains, in particular, the following passages : "... Mercenary units of Czechs, Latvians, Magyars, Chinese, Austrians and Jews occupied Voronezh", "Jewish units entered the city under their blue national banners with six-pointed stars. Many had tokens with portraits of Karl Marx . In addition, the author does not disdain passages about "Jewish revolutionaries" [3] .

Comm. We remind you that the Voronezh Region is one of the most problematic regions of Russia in terms of the spread and rooting of xenophobic sentiments in society.

1. Azarov A. Russian Cross // Shore. 2004. December 10. No. 50.

2. Lapin A. Other Russians // MINE! 2004. November 9-15.

1. Dyagterev Alexander. Makhno - the prodigal son of the revolution // Voronezh. 2004. October.

According to the report of the Foundation "For Environmental and Social Justice" (Voronezh) "Ban on propaganda of war, incitement to discrimination and violence" for 2004.