Open AccessPrisoners of the Media: Television in Russia Since the Collapse of Communism
Author(s) -
Jeffrey Brassard
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
stream
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1916-5897
DOI - 10.21810/strm.v2i1.38
Subject(s) - communism , successor cardinal , soviet union , russian history , power (physics) , censorship , state (computer science) , political science , law , economic history , political economy , history , media studies , sociology , politics , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science
In 1991 one of the most oppressive regimes in history collapsed and millions of people were set free. Following the implementation of glasnost and perestroika Soviet communism proved untenable and was consigned to the trash heap of history. The Soviet media itself played a tremendous role in facilitating the collapse. After Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev removed censorship from the Soviet press they began looking into the past transgressions of their nation and reported it aggressively. Thus, as the Soviet state and its Russian successor became a much weaker power agent, other agents of power appeared to challenge the power of the state with regards to the media. Television, as the most important medium in Russian society came to be a special case. The power relations in Russian television are essentially a historical map of power relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Power in Russian media is made up of a complex set of relationships that is worth exploring.