MEDIA AGENCIES MERGE AHEAD OF ELECTIONS AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002129 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS SUBJECT: MEDIA AGENCIES MERGE AHEAD OF ELECTIONS AND SWITCHOVER TO DIGITAL MOSCOW 00002129 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Against the background of an increasingly controlled media climate, the GOR has merged the agencies Rosokhrankultur and Rossvyaznadzor into one "super" agency in an effort to consolidate regulatory control of the media and information technology. It will not be known for at least a few months what the new agency's mandate will be, but the new head of the agency, Boris Boyarskov, is well and favorably known to the Embassy. Some Embassy contacts speculate that the merger was undertaken to increase control over media content, including the Internet, in advance of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Russia's imminent switchover to digital broadcasting might be the real impetus for the merger, however. End summary. -------------- New "Super" Agency -------------- ¶2. (U) On March 12, President Putin decreed the merger of Rosokhrankultur, which issues and revokes broadcasting licenses, and Rossvyaznadzor, which issues technical licenses for data transmission, as part of an effort to consolidate regulatory control over media and information technology. Head of Rosokhrankultur Boris Boyarskov was put in charge of the new "super" agency on March 26. ¶3. (SBU) Boyarskov chaired the working group that assessed the viability of merging the two agencies and told us in a March 22 meeting that the new agency's functions would be made clearer by mid-June via amendments to the Law on Media, supplemented by GOR regulations specifying its powers. No proposed amendments have been discussed as of mid-May. -------------- Initial Reaction Apprehensive -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Reaction to the merger has been low key, but apprehensive to date. Foundation for Information Policy Development Director Yelena Kolesnik attributed the merger to the GOR's desire to centralize control over all media content, although she admitted that she had no evidence to support her suspicions. In an April 26 meeting, Director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations Oleg Panfilov reserved judgment, predicting that little would be known before September. Still, he feared the merger was a Kremlin attempt to ensure maximum control over the media in the election season. ¶5. (SBU) Director of the National Research Center on Television and Radio Aleksey Samokhvalov told us April 9 that in light of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, the GOR may be contemplating overtly stronger controls over media content. He said, however that the agency's main task would be to oversee Russia's impending switchover to digital broadcasting, which is scheduled to occur in 2008. The newly-merged agency will have a federally supported budget with estimates ranging USD 4 - 6 billion for managing the transition, as well as the power to allot a substantially increased number of licenses. -------------- Suspicions of GOR Intentions Remain -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In a March 16 article, Reuters wrote that the merger had sparked fears of a "bid to extend tight publishing controls to the relatively free Web." Saying that Russia is "not China," interlocutors were in agreement that it would be "impossible" for the GOR to control the Internet should the newly-merged agency attempt it. Kolesnik and Panfilov felt that pressure nevertheless would be brought to bear. Panfilov was specifically concerned that the independent radio station Ekho Moskvy and the newspaper Novaya Gazeta (late journalist Anna Politkovskaya's employer) might be singled out for their more independent coverage, but Boyarskov was at pains to reassure us of his support for freedom of press and journalists' rights. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) It is not surprising that media watchers here are inclined to suspect the worst of the merger, since they subscribe to Freedom House's view, as published May 3 in its 2007 report on freedom of the press, that GOR efforts are MOSCOW 00002129 002.2 OF 002 directed at "(further marginalizing) independent media voices, punctuated by plans to regulate the Internet." The GOR's attention has been increasingly focused on the need to avoid any surprises during the upcoming elections and greater control over media content would be a logical task for the new agency to undertake. Post, however, has yet to see any concrete steps in that direction and is persuaded that Russia's switchover to digital is an equally important factor in divining the intent of the merger. Boyarskov himself is a very modest figure and has been very helpful to the Embassy in our earlier work with him on the IPR account. BURNS