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Ideology, Image-Making and the Media in Putin's Russia

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Ideology, Image-Making and the Media in Putin's Russia Ideology, Image-making and the Media in Putin's Russia. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF PhD IN RUSSIAN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY BY GREGORY J. SIMONS University of Canterbury 2004 L ?_(:1t l )t INDEX. LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ... v GLOSSARY ... VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... Vll ABSTRACT ... Vll INTRODUCTION. ... 1 CHAPTER 0: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE THESIS. 0.0 Chapter Objectives ... 14 0.1 Media Theory ... 14 0.1.1 The Significance of the Mass Media ... 14 0.1.2 Social Functions of the Media ... 15 0.1.3 Requirements for Freedom of the Press ... 16 0.1.4 Political Communication ... 17 0.2 Critical Theory ... 20 0.3 Semiotics ... 22 0.4 Ideology ... 23 0.5 Jean Baudrillard' s Theories of Simulation and Simulacra ... 27 0.6 Image Theory ... 30 0.7 TV and Power ... 32 0.8 Making the News ... 36 0.9 Chapter Summary ... 39 CHAPTER I: VLADIMIR PUTIN AND THE DEBATE ON THE EMERGENCE OF CULT OF PERSONALITY. 1.0 Chapter Objectives. ...41 1.1 Definition of Cult of Personality. .. 42 I 1.2 Cult of Personality in the Soviet Union. ... 45 1.3 Does a 'Cult of Putin' Really Exist? ... 49 1.3.1 Creating Putin. ... 50 1.3.2 Creating an 'Acceptable' Public Personality. ... 51 1.3.3 Reinforcing the Image. ... 52 1.3.4 Putin's Initial Public Profile: A Summary. ... 59 1.3.5 Putin: The Passionate Lover of Literature. ... 60 1.3.6 Putin For Sale: The Industry Dealing in Putin Paraphernalia. ... 61 1.3.7 Cultural Putin: Art and Culture Dedicated to Putin. ... 63 1.3.8 Putin's Heritage. ... 67 1.4 'Moving Together' - The Rise of the So-Called Putin Jugend. ... 68 1.5 Chapter Summary. ... 79 CHAPTER II: PUTIN AND HIS INHERITANCE. 2.0 Chapter Objectives ... 85 2.1 Image Making ... 86 2.1.1 Lyudmila Putina and the use of the Presidential First Lady, As Portrayed in the Russian Media for Providing Model Behaviour. .. 87 2.1.2 Oligarchy and Putin ... 105 2.2 Access and Method of Communication: Yeltsin and Luzhkov ... 116 2.2.1 Boris Yeltsin - Russia's Past President. ... 117 2.2.2 Yuri Luzhkov - Mayor of Moscow ... 123 2.3 Presidential Elections ... 126 2.3.1 New Rules of the Game ... 130 2.3.2 Use of Kompromat in Elections ... 132 2.4 Totalitarian Discourse and State Interests ... 137 2.4.1 Definitions and Characteristics ... 138 2.4.2 Applicability of Totalitarian Theory to the Russian Federation ... 143 2.5 Chapter Summary ... 144 11 CHAPTER III: A SEARCH FOR IDENTITY AND THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. 3.0 Chapter Objectives ... 148 3.1 Neo-Soviet Identity and the Fluctuations ofIdentity ... 150 3.1.1 East or West? ... 156 3.2 An Empire Lost ... 161 3.3 Use of Patriotism in Russian Society ... 164 3.3.1 Definition of Patriotism ... 165 3.3.2 Patriotism in the Soviet Union ... 166 3.3.3 Patriotism or Nationalism? ... 168 3.3.4 Reintroduction of Patriotism into Contemporary Russian Society ... 170 3.4 The Influence of the ROC as Reflected Through the Media. ... 177 3.4.1 Russian Orthodox Church During the Soviet Era ... 177 3.4.2 Effects of Glasnost and Perestroika Upon the Church ... 180 3.4.3 The Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Federation ... 186 3.4.4 State-Church Relations Under the Putin Administration ... 188 3.4.5 The Role of Religion in Education and the Armed Forces ... 201 3.4.6 Coming to Terms With its 'Dark' Past ... 210 3.5 Chapter Summary ... 213 CHAPTER IV: MAIN TRENDS IN THE MEDIA. 4.0 Chapter Objectives ... 220 4.1 Issues of Foreign Ownership and Influence in the Media ... 221 4.2 The Internet ... 227 4.2.1 Internet Use in the Russian Federation ... 228 4.2.2 Political Activity on the Net ... 234 4.2.3 Policing and Controlling the Internet ... 241 4.2.4 Commercial Developments on the Net ... 245 4.2.5 Kavkaz.org and the Information War ... 247 4.3 Interaction Between Media and Society ... 249 4.3.1 Media as a Protector of Public Interest ... 252 4.4 Opinion Polls and Public Consultation in the Russian Federation ... 257 111 4.5 Development of the Media as a Tool of Opinion Manipulation ... 270 4.6 Soviet Media ... 274 4.7 State Support to the Media ... 283 4.8 Censorship ... 284 4.8.1 A History of Censorship in the Soviet Era ... 286 4.8.2 The Remains of Soviet Ideology and New Trends ... 296 4.8.3 Involvement of Big Business in Censorship ... 307 4.8.4 Bureaucratic Instruments of Censorship ... 309 4.9 Chapter Summary ... 317 CHAPTER V: THE CHECHEN WARS. 5.0 Chapter Objectives ... 322 5.1 The First Chechen War ... 324 5.2 UN and NATO Press Operations as a Model ... 330 5.2.1 A Background ... 330 5.2.2 The 1991 Gulf War ... 331 5.2.3 NATO's 1999 Kosovo Operation ... 337 5.3 The Second Chechen War, 1999- ... 343 5.4 Language and Symbolism ... 366 5.5 Chapter Summary ... 377 CHAPTER VI: FRAMING THE NEWS. 6.0 Chapter Objectives ... 382 6.1 Framing Soviet News, Brezhnev Era Versus Gorbachev Era News ... 383 6.2 Framing the News Content of ORT ... 386 6.3 Framing the News Content of NTV ... 400 6.4 Chapter Summary ... 413 CONCLUSION ... 422 BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 430 IV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFP - Associated Foreign Press AP - Associated Press ARPI - Agency for Regional Political Research BBC - British Broadcasting Commission CEC - Central Electoral Commission CNN - Cable News Network COE - Council of Europe CPCC - Communist Party Central Committee CPSU - Communist Party of the Soviet Union DPA - Deutsche Presse Agentur EJC - European Journalism Centre EU - European Union F APSI - Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information FOM - Public Opinion Foundation FSB - Federal Service for Security (KGB successor) GDF - Glasnost Defence Foundation GDP - Gross Domestic Product ISP - Internet Service Provider IT - Information Technology lTV - Independent Television (Britain) JRL - Johnson's Russia List KGB - Committee for State Security KPRF - Communist Party of the Russian Federation NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NBC - North American Broadcasting Commission NCT - New Communications Technology NGO - Non-Governmental Organisation NTV - Independent Television (Russia) ORT - Public Russian Television (now called TV 1, Russia) OSCE - Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe PC - Personal Computer POW - Prisoner of War v PR - Public Relations RIA Novosti - Russian Information Agency Novosti ROC - Russian Orthodox Church ROMIR - Russian Public Opinion and Market Research RTR - Russian Television and Radio RUJ - Russian Union of Journalists TV - Television UN - United Nations USA - United States of America USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VGTRI( - All-Russia State TV and Radio Committee VTsIOM - Centre for Public Opinion and Market Research WTO - World Trade Organisation GLOSSARY CIt Bespredel- means without limits, given to Boris Y eltsin' s period as President. • Consciousness - totality of attitudes, opinions and sensitivities held by individuals or groups. • Hegemony - process through which 'dominant' ideology is transmitted, consciousness is formed, and social power is exercised. CII Ideology - a system of ideas. • Infosuasion - to influence the viewers' attitude to the content in the direction established by the sender. Mixture of verbal and non-verbal cues are used. • Managed Democracy - maintenance of outwardly democratic forms, while ensuring that those in power are not actually challenged by serious opposition or criticism. • Mediacracy - concentration of media into fewer hands. Inhibits alternative points of view from being expressed. Media eventually become a big player in politics. • Zachistka - means cleaning-up operations in Chechnya, designed to flush out the rebels. • Zakazukha - the selling of stories, which appear in the media. Often in the form of hidden advertising. • Zastoi - means stagnation, attached to Leonid Brezhnev's rule. VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am in deep gratitude to a great number of people who all helped to make this thesis possible with their individual and collective input. Firstly, I would like to express my profound thanks to my supervisor of studies, Dr. Alexandra Smith of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand for the vast amount of time she has spend reading, commenting and advising to ensure the best possible result. Financial support came from many sources, helping me conduct several field studies as well as ensure the completion of the project. The University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Professor Martin Holland and the National Centre for Research on Europe and Uppsala University, Sweden ... thank you. A special thank you to the staff of the Department of East European Studies at Uppsala University for their moral, technical and financial support. I would also like to single out the following people for their help; Lara Ryazanova-Clarke of Edinburgh University, Dmitri Muraviev of the Russian Union of Journalists, Director ofthe Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations Oleg Panfilov, Mary Frances Muzzi the Grants Administrator Internews Russia, Ruslan Gorevoi from GDF, Alexei Pankin editor ofSreda, Jill Dougherty from CNN, Ricardo Torres from Reuters, New Zealand Embassy staffin Moscow, especially the former ambassador Geoff Ward and Deputy Mission Head Ngawini Keelan, Ivan Zassoursky of Moscow State University, Jan Ekecrantz of Stockholm University, Andrei Richter from the Moscow Media Law and Policy Institute, Ellen P. Mickiewicz of Duke University and Helen Deverson the FrenchlRussian Department Secretary. ABSTRACT This work focuses on the tumultuous and rapidly evolving environment of Russian media and society, from the era of Gorbachev' s reforms of glasnost to just before the 2003 - 2004 electoral cycle. Over this time, there have been three Presidents - Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. Three leaders who have a different managerial style, although both Gorbachev and Putin have legal training, which seems to have some impact upon the way they try to manage a transforming society.
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