Washington Post - 01.30.2008

Washington Post

Prime Time for Putin's Anointed

Favorite for Election, Medvedev Is Heavily Favored in Coverage

By Peter Finn

MOSCOW -- In mid-January, the publication Kommersant First Rating released the results of its annual poll, in which Russians were asked to name the country's elite in 2007. Heading the list of 200, as in previous years, was President Vladimir Putin, followed by one of the country's most popular singers, a first deputy prime minister and the country's emergency situations minister.

Coming in at No. 5 was Dmitry Medvedev, another first deputy prime minister. And fifth place was apparently unacceptable for the man Putin has ordained as his successor.

Kommersant commissioned the poll with state-controlled Channel One television. But when "Sunday Time," a current affairs program on Channel One, released the "results," the singer, Alla Pugacheva, had mysteriously fallen to fifth place and Medvedev was elevated to second.

Petr Tolstoy, host of "Sunday Time," told the magazine Kommersant Vlast (Power) that "for the political section of the show and simply for the compositional integrity of the show it would be strange to talk about" the singer. He said Medvedev's candidacy "allowed him to occupy the second position in our rating."

In the run-up to the March 2 presidential election, national television channels, where a majority of Russians get their news, are relentlessly promoting Medvedev.

According to Medialogia, a media analysis firm in Moscow, Medvedev was mentioned 419 times on national television news programs between Dec. 29 and Jan. 29, and was the main actor in 223 of those reports. Comparable figures for his only real opponent, Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party, were 107 and 20, Medialogia found.

"Television plays the role of mobilizing society," Anna Kachkayeva, a professor of broadcast journalism at Moscow State University, said in an interview. "And since Medvedev was nominated, television has found someone else to love and support besides Vladimir Vladimirovich," she said, using Putin's patronymic.

Almost nightly, television here airs upbeat reports on such events as Medvedev visiting a new high-tech health center or inspecting a new Russian cargo plane or promising higher pensions or marking the anniversary of the World War II siege of Leningrad and meeting with veterans.

Television recently covered an evening out for Medvedev (he went to a movie). Meanwhile, his opponents are barely visible.

The coverage is devoid of any critical analysis of Medvedev's record. As deputy prime minister, he is responsible for using Russia's bountiful oil and gas revenue to improve health, education, housing and agriculture in the country. But there is no hard scrutiny of his efforts in these still-troubled sectors.

"Television is creating this wonderful picture of Medvedev," Vadim Solovyov, a Communist Party official and member of parliament, said in an interview. "But he is a virtual candidate who has never had to debate his record or face any real challenge about whether he has demonstrated enough experience for the job. We're not impressed with what he has achieved."

For months, the race included a vociferous critic of the Kremlin, former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov. He was mentioned 114 times in national newscasts, 46 of them as the main actor, the survey found. It said that in most cases, the coverage was negative.

Kasyanov was barred Sunday from running after the Central Election Commission said it found tens of thousands of forged signatures on his petitions to get on the ballot.

Two other candidates who remain in the contest, nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and an ostensible liberal, Andrei Bogdanov, merely create the appearance of competition, faithfully following the Kremlin line, according to political analysts. Their national TV news appearances also have been a small fraction of Medvedev's.

Opinion polls show that Medvedev will easily win the March 2 vote. "Our question is not who it will be but how it will be," said Kachkayeva, the professor. "Russians are more interested in Clinton and Obama because at least there's some suspense."

At key moments in the campaign, the coverage has been particularly skewed, according to the Communist Party. When the pro-Kremlin United Russia party and the Communist Party held congresses in December to nominate their candidates, Medvedev's speech was excerpted far more extensively on national television than Zyuganov's equivalent address to his party.

The Communist Party filed complaints with the Central Election Commission that national television channels were violating laws requiring equal access to the media for all candidates. The CEC responded that the channels were often covering Medvedev's work as first deputy prime minister, not his campaign, and that this explained the larger amount of time he received on news shows, according to Solovyov.

The heads of television stations told the Communist Party that its candidate, unlike Medvedev, was not "active enough" to warrant more coverage, according to Solovyov.

"It's completely illegal," Solovyov said. "This so-called division of Medvedev's activities as a first deputy prime minister and his candidacy has no basis. The law allows only one interpretation: All candidates should have equal access to the mass media."

Last week, Moscow was abuzz with rumors that Zyuganov, angry at his inability to get on television, would withdraw from the race, leaving Medvedev with no real opponent. Suddenly, Zyuganov, who was on a trip to China, found himself featured prominently on television news.

"We can be certain that his face will be appearing on television screens with greater frequency from now," Alexei Pankin, editor of a magazine for publishing professionals, wrote in the Moscow Times on Tuesday. He added that if Zyuganov had withdrawn, Medvedev would have been left looking like a "comical figure" and "Putin's succession plan would have been viewed as a farce by both the Russian and international public."

But while Zyuganov is likely to get more coverage, he will not have the chance to challenge Medvedev in the kind of face-to-face debate that is common in Western democracies.

Medvedev informed the election commission Tuesday that he will "not participate in joint election campaign appearances on national and regional state television and radio channels," the Russian news agency Interfax reported. Medvedev told the commission he was too busy with his work as first deputy prime minister to debate his opponents.

"Let us all express our indignation and insist that Mr. Medvedev should take part in official debates instead of turning Russia into another show," said Zyuganov, speaking on Echo Moskvy radio. "This is not a discussion. It's not a competition. It's disrespect for all voters."