KREMLIN UNHAPPINESS CAUSES MOSCOW'S "DOMASHNIY"

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 010605

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/RUS, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: KREMLIN UNHAPPINESS CAUSES MOSCOW'S "DOMASHNIY"
CHANNEL TO PULL TALK SHOW


Classified By: Polmincouns Alice G. Wells. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Ekho Moskvy Editor-in-Chief Aleksey Venediktov
confirmed to Embassy September 19 that a newly-minted
television program hosted by him and telejournalist Svetlana
Sorokina had been pulled from the air following a September
10 episode that the authorities had apparently found too
controversial. According to Venediktov the program, "V kruge
sveta," was the brainchild of STS Media Director Aleksandr
Rodnyanskiy who for more than one year had lobbied his
friends Venediktov and Sorokina to be its hosts. Both had
resisted Rodnyanskiy's overtures, said Venediktov, because
they thought the "Domashniy" target audience would not be
interested in an edgy political program. ("Domashniy"
generally confines itself to lifestyle programming.) Sorokina
and Venediktov agreed only when Rodnyanskiy promised them
that the only off-limits subject would be President Putin.


2. (C) The program debuted September 2 and aired only four
times before, according to Venediktov, running afoul of the
Kremlin. The September 11 program that triggered "V kruge
sveta's" cancellation was devoted to jury trials and featured
as guests publicist Marietta Chudakova and lawyer Genrikh
Pavda. The two, with hosts Venediktov and Sorokina, conducted
a no holds-barred discussion touching on sentences meted out
to Chechen nationals in Russia, verdicts in hate crime
trials, the recent disturbances in Kondopoga, and the Ulman
case. Putin's name, said Venediktov, was not mentioned, but
Russia's experiment with jury trials was termed a failure.


3. (C) Domashniy's general director warned Venediktov
September 13 that the program was in trouble, and on
September 15, the director told Venediktov that Presidential
Administration Chief Vladislav Surkov had called Alfa Group
head Petr Aven (Alfa Group is part owner of STS Media),who
pressured Rodnyanskiy. Rodnyanskiy agreed to pull the
program. "Aiding" Rodnyanskiy's decision to cancel the
program, according to Venediktov, was a recent comment
allegedly made by President Putin to Aven about Rodnyanskiy's
"untrustworthiness." Said Venediktov, "Rodnyanskiy
understands completely that his continued survival at STS
depends on Putin." Venediktov was philosophical about the
cancellation, complaining only that his friend Rodnyanskiy
had to date not called him to apologize.


4. (C) Comment: The cancellation of "V kruge sveta" is
another example of the Kremlin's sensitivity to even indirect
media criticism. After only four episodes, it is unlikely
that the program had acquired a significant viewing audience
and the discussion, although freewheeling, steered clear of
the Presidential Administration, but was evidently
unflattering enough to cause Surkov to pick up the phone.
BURNS