The flame in Ostankin was highlighted by the landscape of devastation in the Russian television community

It is difficult to imagine a more impressive and meaningful symbol than the one as the apocalyptic sight of the burning Ostankino television tower, a giant smoky banner, unfolded over Moscow. The same set of amazing signs saw in a fantastic stage, as if falling into reality directly from the fictitious world of the Hollywood blockbuster, almost everything. And professional analysts, masters of high -pairing philosophizing in front of a microphone. And random onlooks from among those who, armed with some binoculars, some video camera, some of the home -made “photo grid with a zoom”, at the night of the fire lost in huge crowds on distant, limited cordons of the cordon, approaches to the burning tower. Everyone talked about the “burning greatness of the Empire” and about the “last monument to Soviet power”, which is now turning to the ashes before our eyes.

A little later, when it became clear that the fire in Ostankin was strangled by the TV show of the entire Moscow region and that one of the largest megacities in the world suddenly seemed to be blind, there was a turn for others, but equally consistent interpretations. They talked about an empty television screen as a symbolic image of “new information orders”, about a gray hissing grid as a gloomy emblem of the coming times of “a silent and secretive regime”, about a defiantly brutal cliff in the silence, which ended with the era of the “limitless and unbridled television word” ....

Session with subsequent self -disclosure

The Ostankino catastrophe was really greatly overloaded with symbolic meanings. All new ones continue to manifest until now. And, undoubtedly, they will continue - an hour in an hour, day after day. And it is amazing how many among these meanings turned out to be those that, in essence, carried the character of revelations. More precisely, self -disclosure. Sometimes these self -disclosure turned out to be completely unexpected, but the effect they produced the effect.

The author of these notes, an example, was mostly impressed by the sudden and real, but the self -and -explosive manifestation of the essence of the current state of Russian television, which could be found in the program of the first broadcasting to the capital of the long -awaited “joint channel” of ORT and RTR. Two powerful television concern controlled by the state after almost three days of cruel etheric hunger, when they were cut off from the capital's audience, had to solve the non-swarming, on a third-party look, the task: to isolate what is the very essence of each of the two channels as independent and self-valuable subjects of the media market. It turned out, however, that the task only looks difficult and precisely that with a third -party, amateurish position. For a professional, her decision is primitive and obvious: both channels instantly figured out their nets, without regret they cut off “all excess” from their broadcasting, preserving two, and only two, paints on their canvas. News and cheap series. Oh yes, there was another half -ton - evening, cheap, cinema, which, in principle, in all its articles and strats, can also be equal to another series. And all. And nothing more - completely. But we must admit that the compilers of this software grid, striking in their almost brilliant simplicity, are completely right. News and TV shows - two concentrated essence of interests, addictions and needs of two social types, which make up the vast majority of the television audience: the audience "elite" and the audience "plebs". News and TV shows - two tools, with the help of which with the greatest efficiency and the greatest guarantees of success generates the most precious of television substances: a rating, conquered by the channel, the share of the audience. Accordingly, it is the news and TV shows that two substrates on which the magic vine of television advertising grows and fruit grows with the greatest generosity. As it turned out, you can do without everything else. Everything else: all the wealth of the genera, types and genres of television art, all television trips and discoveries, games and entertainment, investigation and exposure are all or less random load, in essence, in essence, a side dish to two main ethereal dishes. What circumstance was naked before us and we were demonstrated without the slightest embarrassment on the past Wednesday.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the Ostankino conflagration, another self -which, in essence, processed, unfolded. Only in contrast to the above -described public act of “professional exhibitionism”, the second self -disclosure seemed to become a purely workshop, an intra -corporate event. We are talking about the picture of Dahl to the and, by all signs, the irreversible moral decay, which was the Russian “television community” itself at the time of the cruel crisis of CA.

And do not enter them into temptation ...

“The atmosphere of the television community is once a friendly, almost friendly, where there was, of course,

A very noticeable corporate spirit, this atmosphere, of course, is poisoned. If there was a relatively recently a certain unwritten moral code, now it is completely destroyed, the general director of NTV Evgeny Kiselev admits. - The only, by the way, the sphere where corporate solidarity remains to some extent is the technical sphere. Because it is clear how much people who are engaged in pure technology are far from politics. But gradually even there, in the technical sphere, these political squabbles begin to penetrate. ”

In an interview with the “results”, the head of NTV with bitterness states: “In our community, first of all, the“ presumption of decency ”is completely absent. And instead, there seems to be a "presumption of treacherous calculation." Say, if you offer me something and seem to hold out a hand of help, it means that you probably have a certain thing, you want to get something from me ... ”Mikhail Seslavinsky, the deputy minister of the press, traditionally oversees the sector of the electronic press, in absentia agrees with these sad statements of Yevgeny Kiselev:“ The situation in the television community is seen from here, from the ministry, about the same as the same way From the outside of them. The atmosphere is really very difficult, and the “presumption of guilt” of a competence partner certainly exists. Moreover: there is a "presumption of a catch." If not meanness. ”

“As soon as the fire began, the leaders of many companies gathered in the television center building,” recalls the deputy minister. - And for several hours there really was a feeling of complete consolidation. At this time, past discord, reproaches, games to exacerbate and, to put it mildly, the spirit of the competition that exists between companies were forgotten. And we all looked out the window with horror. It seemed that anything could happen. The situation looked inexorably worsening, with each new message. Report of the Ministry of Emergencies and firefighters: "Now we are at the 345 mark, we are trying to do everything possible, we hope that it will work out." In an hour: “Nothing happened, we are at the“ 290 ”mark, we are trying to do everything possible, we hope that it will turn out ...” And so on - until the morning and until the “63” mark. And all this, against the background of the reports about what was bursting at such and so many stretch cables, on such so many, but in any case, it became clear that no less than half would be bursting at night. And if she fell that night, the people who were nearby would have perceived this not only as a natural course of events, but as completely explained.

These several hours were. Everyone remembers them. And I think that not only me, but also many companies in these hours of trouble have the feeling that some new moral platform is being created, on which relations can be built in the future. ”

However, according to Mikhail Seslavinsky, with good illusions, all participants in the events had to part very quickly: “Already to Tuesday, when it could be considered that from the stage of firefighters and emergency rescue operations, the case goes to the stage of restoration work, the question immediately arose and the question of who would broadcast from. It became evident: everyone has already grown so much into the tradition of such a rather “intriguing” competition that, it seems to me, they do not imagine further life without it. So the question of recovery arose immediately, at the first minute, as very heightened and nervous ...

At some point, Mr. Seslavinsky continues, when a proposal was discussed related to the entry of meter channels into the cable networks of Moscow through the NTV-Plus satellite broadcasting, the skirmish between representatives of the companies has already become so indecent, such bothering began that it was necessary to remove journalists and simply say that there are, in fact, two options for the development of events. The first is when everyone is for himself. Here we are diverging and that's it. Each, in the end, has their own political and financial resources. Someone will negotiate here, someone there. Someone will buy something for himself, enter the Moscow government, licensing organs-the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Printing and step by broadcasting certain pieces of the city. And the second option, which the ministry is trying to implement, is still to develop a centralized plan for the air according to the simplest schemes and in the shortest possible time ... ”The mutual distrust nevertheless again and again allowed to feel, breaking through the most unexpected moments and in the most unexpected forms. The complete absence of the reaction of the heads of television channels, in the first days, completely completely falling out of the Moscow broadcast, to the statement of readiness to broadcast in the morning, day and evening, in the Prime Time, the news programs of their competitors ... High-like reproaches that sounded at NTVPLUS in the fact that the owner of the satellite system of broadcasting, saying that it was ready to provide free access to all coming to federal channels in the federal channels open, non -conduced, actually insidiously intends to issue huge invoices for broadcasting the signal (obviously, the reason for these accusations was an inadvertently pronounced by the technical director of the NTV, the figure of the annual cost of “lifting” of each channel to the satellite) ... extremely “jealous”, by the definition of officials from the Ministry of Printing, the reaction of the “culture” to the message about the intention to display the NTV. The air “on the fifth button”, filled with suspicions that “the button will be taken and given to others forever” ... All week the “anti -crisis” meetings in the Ministry of Printing were held twice a day. And it was constantly felt, as Mikhail Seslavinsky now says, “that the general nervousness, general suspicion - they are already programmed, almost inevitable and incurable.” “At the same time,” the deputy minister shares his observations, “non -state companies converged in one. That the main enemy who wants to deceive them is most likely a state. It, they say, will not think about anyone, it is only worried about ORT and RTR, he doesn’t give a damn about all the others .. ”Actually, with all the complaints, it was difficult to expect it to expect, for example, NTV leaders and the Media-Most holding with perfect composure, the famous phrase of the Minister of Printing Mikhail Lesin, for example, for example, the leaders of the NTV, for example. The Echo of Moscow sounded on Monday (apparently, even when the hours of idyllic universal consent and solidarity did not expire, now recalled by his deputy): “NTV news is used in a certain way and to some extent even hesitate the situation and deceive the viewer ...” If the same statement is added to the same Lesin, made for two days. Later, “NTV, TNT,“ Echo of Moscow ”, they use the situation in their own interests both political and financial,” will have to admit that the sharp reaction of the leadership of the “Mostovskaya” corporation, which our belongs

The magazine was once again not so much “programmed” as it was still provoked. And the provocateur-in the initial and most natural sense of the word-was not anyone, but the federal official of the highest echelon, appointed on behalf of the state of the entire “information industry”.

According to information obtained by the “results” from their own sources, in no way with the “Entaywash”, the leadership of the television company had very good reason to fear the development of events, as unpleasant as possible for the only private television channel of the general Federal scale. Namely, the official statements that the damaged Ostankino “Bolivar” is no longer able to withstand all broadcasting equipment that has been placed on it so far. And then - already semi -official explanations that NTV, they say, “since it is so smart, independent and prudent,” let him re -arrange his broadcasting on his own. Our informants argue that in a number of Kremlin cabinets at least discussed - moreover, in sufficient detail, with attempts to predict both direct and more distant consequences of the alleged operation, the possibility of “quickly and radically solve the NTV problem,” since the tragic circumstances in Ostankino created “all the necessary prerequisites” for this. The solution to the problem in fact could be completely radical, even if it were to delay the NTV return to the usual meter channel for only a few weeks. After all, the damage from the advertising contracts ripped off during this period would be extremely difficult.

The situation with the restoration of the Moscow broadcasting infrastructure changes too quickly, and we decisively cannot be sure in advance, but so far it seems that, although the temptation was very great, the participants of the “hunting for the“ bridge ”were enough prudence to calm their excitement. Closer to the end of the past week, Evgeny Kiselev could already feel a little more calmly: “At any moment, the situation, of course, can completely turn over. But at the present moment I can say this: it seems to me that the authorities managed to overcome the temptation. Still, it apparently seemed to them that we should not forget that we have a license to broadcast. Moreover, it is at this frequency, in this range. And it is clear that not to resume broadcasting there, not interrupted through our fault, this is, in fact, unilaterally annulate the License of the Ministry of Communications issued to us legally ... ”Reviewing this ruined landscape, which the flame of the night fire on the tower seemed to be even more sharply and more distinct, when it happened? Who sowed these poisonous grains of total suspicion? What was the universal readiness to be deceived, devoted in this environment?

There is no phenomenal memorial there. Remember the events very recent. Remember the circumstances of the spring of 1999, when the information attack began with several directions simultaneously at the Media-Most, and NTV in particular, when for the first time the artistic image of the “standing on the verge of bankruptcy”, “mired” of media holding began to be actively introduced. Remember how long the “Mostovskaya” press tried not to respond to this pressure, not to notice it, and how later the company was still forced to defend myself.

Well, the authors of that intrigue can be satisfied. Their then undertaking was quite successful. The Russian television community - one of the most important, influential spheres of the information community as a whole - is disconnected and corrupted. And while it is in this state, we can expect that it is much easier to cope with it as soon as it takes.