The closure of the television station TVS marks the end of independent TV journalism in Russia....
"The pressure is applied with the help of money, via large concerns who are in a position to take over mass media,such as TV companies, but at the same time independent of the state. Companies such as the gas concern Gazprom, the federal energy company, or the oil company Lukoil, couldn't do it without good contacts with the authorities. And not infrequently, in all honesty, they receive instructions from above. So Gazprom took over the television station NTV, and not long afterwards Lukoil took over TV6."
The result is the gradual decay of the media landscape in Russia. The heavy-handed way in which the independent media has been treated in recent years sends a clear signal: self-censorship is back. That can be seen, for example, in the cautious manner in which the war in Chechnya has been reported. For Latsis, the worst thing is that the Russian public are no longer making a fuss about it.
"The vast majority are no longer interested because there's no hope any more. If things continue like that, the prognosis is bleak. The first war in Chechnya was ended thanks to the work of journalists. The Russians saw the war in Chechnya and were shocked. They asked for peace from Yeltsin, who was forced to listen to their demands. But now it's as if there's a curtain around Chechnya. The Russians aren't seeing what's going on."
Geert Groot Koerkamp Radio Netherlands 27 June 2003
