НТВ

Раздел: Цензура сейчас     Страница: 8/16

Цель: Узнать о событиях, связанных с захватом НТВ в апреле 2001 г.

Задание: Прочитайте текст о событиях апреля 2001 г. в Москве, связанных с телекомпанией НТВ. Этот текст поможет вам лучше понять отрывок из газетной статьи на следующей странице.

Censorship remains an important issue, even in post-communist Russia. How free the Russian press really is continues to be questioned, especially since Vladimir Putin became President of Russia in 1999. In the spring of 2001, this debate was especially animated because of the events surrounding НТВ, the only independent (независимый) television station in Moscow. The station was known for its willingness to broadcast reports critical of President Putin and his administration. In April of 2001, Газпром, a natural gas company with ties to the Kremlin, gained over half of the ownership of the station and threatened to take it over.

The staff protested against this hostile takeover (захват) by only broadcasting news or a shot of the studio with the word Протест on the screen. They were afraid that if they didn’t broadcast live (в прямом эфире) at all times, they would go off the air forever. After an 11-day standoff, the station was finally taken over on April 15, 2001. Many of the reporters went to work for another television station, TV-6, which was closed down later the same year. Media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, who had been in charge of НТВ, was charged with embezzlement and forced into exile.

The debate continues about what role Putin and his administration may have played in this scandal, how much was politically rather than financially motivated, as well as how free the press can really be without independent networks.