Russian Media Challenge by K. Nordenstreng E. Vartanova Y. Zassoursky (review)

Abstract

386 SEER, 8i, 2, 2003 toaMarket Economy (Basingstokeand New York,I997) in itsaccountof the early post-Soviet years, it also includes handy information on the more recent difficultiesoccasioned by the Russian crisis of I998. Generally speaking, the situation in Russia during the period in question was indeed 'unbelievably worse' than the Latvian experience. For Pabriksand Purs, this 'comparative misery and hardship factor' (p. 96) has been instrumental in the popular acceptance of economic reform.Whilstthereisundoubtedlysome truthin this, one should not discountthe more positive consensussurroundingthe goal of a 'return to Europe', something that the authors discuss in their concluding chapter on foreign policy. The latter offers an insightful and interesting discussion which is in many ways the highlight of the work. Experiences between the wars and during the I990S have shown the Latvians that the realization of their foreign policy goals depends upon gaining support from 'some of the world powers' (p. 124). As the authorssuggest, 'only integration and interdependence [will] provide "empty-handed"Latviandiplomatswith bargaining power' (pp. I44-45). The processes of EU and NATO enlargement , however, have been to a large extent contingent upon the interplayof 'greatpower' interests.According to Pabriksand Purs, the Baltic States have not understoodthatpullingtogetherwillhelpthemintotheEU. This overlooks thefactthatEU policy, whilstpreachingco-operation,hasalltoo oftendictated competition. As the middle of the three states,Latviahas had a greaterinterest in Baltic co-operation than its neighbours: whereas Estonia has gravitated towardsFinland and LithuaniatowardsPoland in theirpursuitof integration with theWest,LatvianidentityliesmoresquarelywithintheBalticSea Region. This notion standsat the core of the recent 'AmberGateway' initiative,which formsthefocusof an interestingdiscussionhere.Purelyregionalarrangements, of course,mustbe seen asa complement to, ratherthana substitutefor,fullEU and NATO membership. The year since 9/ II may well have changed the goalposts as far as NATO enlargement is concerned; in the same period, however, it has begun to dawn on Moscow that EU enlargement will not necessarily give Russia 'a rich neighbour [...1 without a lock on its door' (P. 136). Department ofCentral andEastern European Studies D. J. SMITH University ofGlasgow Nordenstreng, K.; Vartanova, E., and Zassoursky,Y. (eds). RussianMedia Challenge. Aleksanteri Institute. Kikimora Publications, Helsinki, 2001. 292 pp. Notes. Appendices. ?29.00 (paperback). THIS is a very usefulvolume, full of facts and analysisabout the development of the Russian media over the last decade. The book has a Finnish co-editor and publisher,but it is effectivelya Russian production. All of the substantive chapters,bar a brief epilogue and a statisticalanalysisof regional newspapers in the appendix, are by Russians, most of whom are members of Moscow State University'sFacultyofJournalism. The book startspoorlywith a prologue fromMikhailGorbachev. Gorbachev 's moralclaim to introducea book about the development of Russianmedia cannot be disputed. He, and all the other contributors, rightly note the REVIEWS 387 importance ofglasnost'to the expansion of pressfreedom in Russia. However, the chapterisbadlywrittenand is almostimpenetrablein places. No clearline of argument except personalvindication -emerges. Afterthe prologue, thingsimprovedramatically.The firstchapter,by Elena Vartanova, gives an overview of changes in media production and consumption . Vartanova's chapter is a mine of information. She notes the general change from print to electronic media under conditions of economic crisis and transition, the fragmentation of hierarchically organized Soviet media into new 'horizontal configurations'based on regional markets(pp. 26-29), the emergence of new forms of media, such as the internet, and of new forms of old media, such as free newspapers,and lifestyle/niche marketmagazines. Russiansnow watch 30 per cent more TV thanWesternEuropeans,and more now listen to the radio than read newspapers (pp. 40, 52). Vartanova's assessment of regional media is usefullybacked up in the appendices, which contain a guide to regional media and an analysisof regional newspapersby JukkaPietilainen.Vartanovapoints out thatthesechangesmean thatRussians consume more entertainmentand lessinformationthan they did previously,a point that is alsomade by Ivan Zassourskyin his chapteron media and power. Vartanova's chapter ends with a review of the various pressuresthat are at work on Russian media structures: historical traditions of censorship, economic pressures and new patterns of social stratification that change demand, regionalism, and technological developments best typified by the internet. Her conclusions arejudicious: the diversityof media is an improvement on the past, but the servicethat the media providesto its audience is not necessarilyimproved. The remaining chaptersin the book flesh out the political...