Censorship in a closed city

In less than a month, on December 26, a repeat vote on the election of a city manager will take place in Ozersk. Let me remind you that last time, in October, local deputies, with the support of townspeople who staged a picket in front of the city hall, “rolled” the candidacy approved by the governor of the Chelyabinsk region. More about this - Riot in a closed city . The reaction was immediate: before going on air, journalists from the local television company Irtyash are required to provide their materials “for review” to the governor’s administration.

According to the Mediazavod website , three months ago the building of the Irtyash television and radio company was purchased at an auction for the sale of municipal property by a private company from Magnitogorsk. JSC "OSK Ozersk" bought a complex for the production of television and radio programs from the district and does not have its own editorial office or broadcasting license. But at the same time she refused to broadcast news programs prepared by the municipal media. Ozersk was virtually left without city news.

According to the creative team of Irtyash, the new owner not only interfered with the professional activities of journalists, but also deprived residents of the district of local television and radio broadcasting.

Director of JSC "OSK Ozersk" Dmitry Zolotov, at a specially assembled meeting, explained to journalists that news programs were stopped by order of the head of the governor's administration, Vadim Evdokimov, who saw attacks on the regional leadership in the local television and radio company's releases. During the negotiations, it became clear that JSC OSK Ozersk is ready to consider the possibility of further broadcasting news only if journalistic materials are provided for preliminary review. In other words - for censorship.

Journalists turned to the prosecutor's office with a request to give a legal assessment of the actions of officials.