Four portraits of new preachers of hate, regulars of Russian TV

Four portraits of new preachers of hate, regulars of Russian TV

A typical talk show on federal Russian TV channels now looks like this: a dozen or more "experts" simultaneously shout at a person who dares to express an alternative point of view. The demand for those experts who shout louder than others and are ready to take radical positions within the current general line has grown - against their background, the official supporters of moderation look quite sensible people. The viewer gets used to the fact that it is quite possible to talk about “radioactive ashes” from the TV screens, then cruelty and aggression are transferred to everyday life.

Novaya Gazeta decided to find out where the TV people recruit screamers from. Below are four portraits of the new preachers of hate, regulars on Russian television programs.

Veronika Krasheninnikova. From assistance in obtaining US visas to the law on "foreign agents"

Veronica Krasheninnikova was thrown from side to side. She studied at the Sorbonne, worked in Geneva and New York, namely: a UN employee, a representative of St. business forums). And in 2011, in the midst of protests in the Russian capital, she decided to return to her homeland and found the Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives (INVISSIN).

"Baptism of fire" organization, which, according to the official website, is engaged in "research and educational work in the areas of domestic and foreign policy of Russia", was held in 2012. Then the institute, headed by Krasheninnikova, came up with the first and so far the only initiative to develop a law "On the registration of foreign agents." The deputies of the State Duma listened to the opinion of the neophyte.

In the spring of 2012, Vladimir Putin, by a separate decree, included Krasheninnikova among the members of the Public Chamber. In July, a law on NGOs was adopted, and a month later, an apologist for the law on foreign agents became a consultant to the editor-in-chief of Russia Today.

Today, Krasheninnikova most often appears on television as the president of INVISSIN. The activities and structure of this organization, which receives grants from the state budget, raises questions.

Only one employee is listed on the institute's official website: General Director Veronika Krasheninnikova. The actual address of the Novaya organization could not be found out. However, according to the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRLE) dated 11/17/2015, “Autonomous non-profit organization “Institute for Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives” is registered at the address: Moscow, Yaroslavskoe highway, house 117. At the same address (according to the database "Screen") 684 more legal entities are registered .

The head of the Russian branch of Transparency International, Elena Panfilova, believes that since the drafting of the law on NGOs, Krasheninnikova has secured the role of a fighter for sovereignty. “I won’t be surprised if she becomes a deputy. There are quite a lot of people like Krasheninnikova in our time. All of them are trying to use the political situation to their advantage,” says Panfilova.

Semyon Bagdasarov. Do not give rest to the laurels of Zhirinovsky

Semyon Bagdasarov tried to make himself a military-political career. On his personal website, in the "Biography" section, he claims that he received the Order "For Personal Courage" for a "special task" in Afghanistan and Tajikistan in 1993 (Bagdasarov does not tell what this task is, since the decree was closed), and also other medals, certificates and awards (including FSB and FSKN). Then the tanker, a colonel in the reserve, decided to leave the military and go into politics. He tried himself in various positions: from the head of the Department for Cooperation with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan of the Ministry of CIS Affairs to the deputy governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The apogee of his career was 2007. Then Bagdasarov was elected to the State Duma from A Just Russia, but he worked there for only one term.

Former State Duma deputy and Righteous Russian Gennady Gudkov remembers his colleague as a man who is "haunted by the laurels of Zhirinovsky and Mitrofanov." “Bagdasarov was one of those deputies,” he recalls, “who are ready to speak on any topic, to carry any nonsense, just to become famous. He loved to shock. But the form has always prevailed over the content. Sometimes he came up with his legislative initiatives, but no one remembered them, because it was always complete nonsense.

Today Bagdasarov heads the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia. This office turned out to be even darker than Krasheninnikova's INVISSIN. There are no reports of the organization on the information portal of the Ministry of Justice. An extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities dated 11/18/2015 also did not reveal the contacts of the center.

The center does not have its own website, but Bagdasarov does. According to the official biography, the political scientist specializes in the fight against terrorism, on the problems of Islam, the Central Asian region and the Middle East.

Sergey Mikheev. Professional patriot

In some media, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, Sergei Mikheev, is listed as the director of the Center for Political Conjuncture. However, he has not been a member of this organization for several years. The current head of the Center for Current Politics, ex-ideologist of United Russia and ex-employee of the presidential administration Alexei Chesnakov characterizes the former employee as a great professional: “Mikheev is well versed in the domestic politics of Russia and Ukraine. He is patriotic, knows how to be objective, but sharp. I think that today he is often invited to TV shows, because, on top of everything else, he has good public speaking skills. Mikheev left us because he wanted to deal with the Caspian region. This topic has not been developed in our center.”

Another line in Mikheev's resume is the Center for Political Technologies Foundation. According to the president of this organization, Igor Bunin, cooperation with Mikheev as an expert was terminated due to "ideological differences." “Now I can’t evaluate him as a political scientist, but he was a good political strategist,” says Bunin.

In 2014, Mikheev became persona non grata in the European Union (on the VKontakte page dedicated to Mikheev’s activities, this fact is proudly indicated in the “Biography” section). According to the political scientist, Lithuania asked to be banned from entering the Schengen countries because of his position on the Ukrainian crisis.

To date, Mikheev is listed as the general director of the Caspian Cooperation Institute. The website of the organization that studies the political and socio-economic problems of the Caspian and the states of the Caspian region is a media aggregator (collects information from various sites dedicated to the region). In the "Contacts" section, there is no information about the structure of the organization; only its general director is listed as a contact person. On the other hand, “the first NGO in Russia on the Caspian issue” actively participates in forums and press conferences, and organizes similar events in Moscow.

According to the extract of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities dated 11/20/2015, the non-profit partnership "Caspian Cooperation Institute" has three founders: Commercial Bank Soyuzny LLC, Proxima Consulting LLC and Sergey Aleksandrovich Mikheev. It was not possible to obtain an extract for LLC Commercial Bank Soyuzny. Proxima Consulting LLC had two founders: Linumor Enterprises Limited and Erebos Holdings Limited. Both companies are registered in Cyprus.

Igor Korotchenko. “He is ready to comment on anything”

Igor Korotchenko is an active user of social networks. He calls his blog in LiveJournal "a war diary". Judging by the posts, the author travels a lot, visits various air shows around the world and dilutes photographs of military equipment with showcases of Parisian boutiques located near his hotel on the Champs Elysees (“Especially for readers of my LiveJournal”).

Korotchenko has a standard set of enemies - the United States, Ukraine, the Russian opposition. He writes aggressive posts, sincerely rejoices when someone calls American beer “dirty water”, operates with incorrect wording and provokes his readers in every possible way (“What would you like to say to Maria Gaidar on the day she became a citizen of Ukraine?”). The posting style gives Korotchenko more of a "Nashi" than the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, which he is.

By the way, Korotchenko's journalistic career was ambiguous. In 2011, with a scandal, he left the post of editor-in-chief of the all-Russian newspaper "Military Industrial Courier" ("VPK"). Tried to challenge this decision in court, but without success.

Later, a devastating article appeared in the newspaper. The author of the publication reproached Korotchenko for his desire to promote himself on any topic (“He is ready to comment on anything - from bird flu to barracks hooliganism”) and even questioned his military past.

The same article describes in detail the story of Korotchenko's dismissal. The ex-editor-in-chief of the "VPK" claims that the reason for this was a journalistic investigation, which provoked the anger of the leadership of the media holding. However, in an article published after Korotchenko left his post, it is argued that the real reason for the breakdown of relations is the absenteeism of the former editor-in-chief (he opened the National Defense magazine and at the same time tried to extort compensation for dismissal from the editorial office).

As for the military past, Korotchenko served in the Russian army for more than 10 years (at the age of 34 he had the rank of colonel), and then was mysteriously dismissed. The Military-Industrial Courier published an extract from the order of the Minister of Defense, according to which Korotchenko was transferred to the reserve - due to a discrepancy between the "moral and psychological qualities" of the officer. What this wording implies and how one could rise to the rank of colonel at the age of 34 is still unclear. A Novaya Gazeta source in the Ministry of Defense claims that Korotchenko became a member of the public council of the ministry under Serdyukov, but as soon as the department changed its head, one of its employees wrote a “cart” to Korotchenko. Conducted an investigation. And when they found out that Korotchenko actually invented a biography for himself, they decided not to include him in the new composition of the council.

There is a website on the Internet that has been exposing Korotchenko's activities for many years, although this does not prevent him from appearing on all federal channels as a military observer. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Arbatov believes that Korotchenko is voicing the anti-Western position of the military establishment. “His professionalism is not comprehensive. He is not a universal expert. Today it acts as a mouthpiece for the military-industrial complex and the Ministry of Defense. He is taking part in a campaign of confrontation with the West,” he notes.

Opinions of Novaya Gazeta experts

Alexey Malashenko, expert at the Carnegie Center:

- What is happening reminds me of the 1979 revolution in Iran. Then all of a sudden everyone became experts on Iran. Today, many "experts" simply do not understand foreign policy issues. For example, I ask such an expert: “What is the numerical and ethno-religious composition of Syria?” He couldn't answer! The next day I saw the same expert on another channel. There he already spoke about medicine. Why are these people on the screen? It seems that the Strugatskys in the book "It's Hard to Be God" have a phrase: "Now we need not smart ones, now we need faithful ones." This best describes the current situation on TV.

I am often invited to programs, but when I see the composition, I just don’t want to go there. Today, the task of socio-political talk shows is aimed at neutralizing sane people. This is expressed in the fact that most of the time experts who follow the line of the party and government speak. The rest are allocated less than 20% of the time. I myself used a stopwatch. They are abruptly interrupted by the presenter, asks provocative questions and tries to divert the speaker's thoughts somewhere to the side.

Anna Kachkaeva, journalist, professor at the Higher School of Economics:

“ Today, experts who appear on social and political talk shows are actually media people, not scientists and researchers. They pronounce or even “throw in” things that officials in public positions sometimes cannot voice openly. Professional experts either distance themselves from participation in spectacular shows, or are included in the "stop lists", or feel discomfort from rhetorical battles with the rules in "one goal".

The main task of such talk shows is to support informational noise, where the main thing is emotional tension, verbal aggression, and not doubts, logic and common sense. No one delves into the causes, foundations of any phenomena. A complex conversation on television is the lot of special programs and channels, and today no one needs a detailed and balanced analysis of hot political topics. TV experts, like presenters, in some sense always express the “essence of time”. And the laws of television require mediatized experts to hold themselves well in front of the camera, speak confidently and often categorically, popularly present problematic material in situations of information conflicts and real confrontations, “hang labels” (who is an enemy and who is a friend), distort facts, “crush” links to the authorities. All this is a traditional set of propaganda techniques. Experts - "mercenaries of time" - sometimes appear (Narochnitskaya, Dugin, Kurginyan, for example), when they are needed, then disappear. In the current accelerated "socio-political" series, some "mercenaries" have to quickly reorganize: today they say one thing, tomorrow - when the supreme point of view changes - another.