Mass media told to keep quiet about crisis
Russian General Prosecutor, Yuri Chaika, has requested stricter control of the Russian regional mass media’s coverage of the financial crisis. The media stirs up the crisis, the general prosecutor argues.
As the negative effects of the international financial crisis are being felt all over federation, Russian prosecutors are now told to step up control of regional media company’s coverage of the situation, newspaper Kommersant reports. Mr. Chaika argues that the media could destabilize the situation in the regions and especially fears for the media companies’ coverage of regional banks. A new decree from the General Prosecutor states that the regional media will be held under close control by regional prosecutors. Control operations and questioning of newspaper editors have already started in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Similar control operations now await editors all over the country. The General Prosecutor’s office at the same time insists that the new controls are not a move to introduce media censorship. –We are not introducing censorship, we are only checking the reliability of the information, a spokesman for the prosecutors told Kommersant.
