Control through co-optation
The Kremlin and the media
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
At first sight, Russia has a diverse media landscape. The television market has become a huge business. However, there is certainly no multiplicity of opinions. The media are controlled by the Kremlin. Its tools are no longer censorship and force, but the cooptation of the media owners, the most important of whom are close associates of Vladimir Putin. The television channels have become propaganda tools and a means for sedating the general public. The print media have become entirely irrelevant when it comes to forming public opinion and the political decision-making process. In the consolidated, authoritarian system, there is no longer any ‘fourth power’. The media have lost their function as watchdog. However, islands of serious, independent and high-quality journalism still survive.
(Osteuropa 10-12/2018, pp. 215–229)