Russian radio station forced to impose social media rules
Alexander Ivanov, the son of Sergei Ivanov, a close Putin confidante, drowned while holidaying in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.
Aleksander Plyushchev, a programme host, wrote on Twitter that the death may have been “proof of the existence of God/higher justice,” apparently in reference to a 2005 incident when Alexander Ivanov hit and killed a 68-year-old pensioner with his car.
Mr Venediktov refused to fire Mr Plyushchev, but agreed to bar him from on-air work until January.
The new rules will be drafted by a committee including staff reporters, Russia’s communications ministry, the national broadcasting watchdog and the OSCE’s committee on media freedom, and will apply to all outlets owned by Gazprom Media, Lesya Ryabtseva, an assistant to Mr Venediktov wrote in a blog post on Monday.
The amendments to the station’s charter are meant to be produced by December 25. “We cannot delay. Because freedom of speech is at stake,” wrote Miss Ryabtseva.
Echo of Moscow has long been tolerated as an outlet for opposition-minded reporting and criticism of the government, despite regular run-ins with the Kremlin.
But an increasingly hawkish political climate following events in Ukraine has raised fears that hardliners within the government may seek to end the station’s editorial independence or even take it off the air for good.
Last month the station received a warning and was forced to take down the transcript of a programme featuring interviews with two journalists who had witnessed fighting at Donetsk airport, on the grounds it may have contained material endorsing war crimes. That programme was also hosted by Mr Plyushchev.