Translated material
Putin's authoritarian regime: all state and public institutions are administered from several offices in the Kremlin
A journalist from Kyiv calls.
“Ilya,” says. - Here explain such a strangeness. We watch your Russian television, and there Yavlinsky, and Sobchak, and Grudinin. About all positive news. They even mention Navalny! "
"Even Navalny?" - I'm clarifying.
"Well, yes! Not so, of course, like others. Scold, mainly. But they say. "
"So what's the question?"
“How? We believed that you have a totalitarian state, and here is such freedom of speech. What is happening at all? " - My beautiful Ukrainian interlocutor is perplexed.
I, frankly, are also perplexed - but for a different reason. Why do they watch our television in Kyiv? We ourselves almost do not turn it on, but they have what motivation?
Otherwise, everything is clearer than clear, from my point of view.
Of course, the political system created by Putin is incorrectly called totalitarian. We have no mandatory for all state ideology, the borders are open, the criticism of power, although significantly limited, is not prohibited. This is an authoritarian regime, the main feature of which is manual control. In fact, all state and public institutions are administered from several offices in the Kremlin. And the media is no exception.
When the authorities are profitable to localize any topic, TV is silent and not moved. The last example: federal television channels synchronously ignored the massacre arranged by schoolchildren in Perm and Ulan-Ude.
When profitable - they are silent about opposition activity. For example, mass protests in June 2017 and hundreds of detentions were not at all covered on TV.
And now the authorities are profitable to demonstrate rich political lives and competition in the elections. Is this competition in reality? No. After removing Navalny from the distance, none of the official candidates, except Putin, even talks about intention to fight for the victory. Someone wants to “present their program”, someone hopes “get a federal stand”, someone intends to “take the first step on the way to the State Duma through the presidential campaign.” So why not let these guys go on TV, if they are not even ready to compete with Putin in words?
The main thing that is now concerned about power is the turnout of voters on March 18. Political calm on TV does not promote the appearance. Hence all this television imitation of the stormy and colorful political activity, which, after the election, of course, will stop.