(CJES/IFEX) – The radio station Ekho Moskvy has reported that the Oryol region’s prosecutor’s office has issued a warning to the newspaper “Orlovskiye Novosti” over a photograph it published of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The paper’s deputy editor-in-chief, Tatyana Kuzmina, told CJES that the warning was issued over a photograph published in the newspaper as […]
(CJES/IFEX) – The radio station Ekho Moskvy has reported that the Oryol region’s prosecutor’s office has issued a warning to the newspaper “Orlovskiye Novosti” over a photograph it published of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The paper’s deputy editor-in-chief, Tatyana Kuzmina, told CJES that the warning was issued over a photograph published in the newspaper as part of the contest “Contemporary History of the Oryol Region”.
“The photo featured Vladimir Putin with Oryol region’s governor, Yegor Stroyev. The photograph captured the moment when the governor was waving to someone from behind the president’s back, as though he was signaling to someone. The prosecutor’s office found the photo to contain a gesture that is not in line with the accepted practice of communication on the president,” said Kuzmina.
Kuzmina also said the prosecutor’s office had told her that a criminal case may be filed against the newspaper if it runs content considered insulting to the authorities in future.
The staff of “Orlovskiye Novosti” is convinced that the local authorities are simply looking for a pretext to put pressure on the independent media publication.
“Throughout the history of the paper, which has been published since April 2004, we have always experienced pressure. It intensifies when elections are conducted in the region. The paper is known for its critical articles and the authorities are not happy with its independent position,” said Kuzmina.
No printing house in Oryol wants to print the newspaper, according to Kuzmina. For this reason, the newspaper had to be printed in the Bryansk region for a year.
However, a year later the Bryansk printing house refused to work with the paper as well and the paper had to be printed in Kaluga. In March 2006, before the elections to the City Council, the Kaluga printing house refused to print “Orlovskiye Novosti” too.
“The paper is now printed in Belgorod. We are experiencing great difficulties with distribution too. Presently, the paper has a circulation of only 6,000 copies, but the number of people who want to read it is much higher. The problem is that all press distributors are refusing to work with us. We are having to count only on private distributors, which are very few in number,” Kuzmina said.
The editorial board of “Orlovskiye Novosti” believes the situation will aggravate as elections to the region’s council are scheduled to take place in March 2007.
BACKGROUND:
The first edition of the socio-political newspaper “Orlovskiye Novosti” came out on 7 April 2004.
The paper is a weekly independent socio-political publication targeted at socially active people. The purpose of the paper is to help the people of the Oryol region exercise their right to receive information on information of public importance affecting their interests.
The paper gives an objective and open evaluation of the work of public bodies and local self-government bodies, as well as socio-economic and political issues. It has talented, authoritative and principled staff members, including Yelena Godlevskaya (winner of the prestigious journalistic award Golden Feather of Russia), Tatyana Kuzmina, Leonid Agibalov, Andrei Gryadunov, and many other prominent journalists. They are being helped and supported by Marina Ivashina (chairman of the Oryol department of the all-Russian public organization for the support of small and mid-sized businesses, OPORA Rossii), Igor Fedorov (a well-known businessman), and Andrei Kanatnikov (the head of a law bureau for the protection of the rights of businessmen and political observer).
According to information possessed by the Levada Foundation, “Orlovskiye Novosti” ranks first among the politically and socially active periodicals of the Central District. Materials run by the paper have been used in programmes of federal television channels such as Svoboda Slova (NTV) and Segodnya (NTV).
In October 2004, “Orlovskiye Novosti” won the international journalistic contest Vopreki-2004. Winners of this contest are recognized for producing the most relevant and courageous materials, confirming the authors’ readiness to be independent of political, administrative and financial pressure from local authorities and of social stereotypes. For this reason, this contest is among the most prestigious of contests in Russian journalism.
In December 2004, “Orlovskiye Novosti” won the all-Russian contest Press on Small Business. The paper received the top award in the contest for its professional materials on issues relating to small businesses and on the relationship between business and the authorities, and for its consistent protection of the interests of small and mid-sized businesses.
On 11 December 2004, Marina Ivashina, the founder of “Orlovskiye Novosti” and the author of economic articles, became a finalist in the Andrei Sakharov contest For Journalism as an Act.
The paper’s circulation is constantly growing (in its first two months, it increased from 2,000 copies to 6,000). Presently, the paper has a circulation of 18,000 copies. “Orlovskiye Novosti” is sold even in Russian shops in New York.
