Russian Protest about recent election

Russian TV, Changing Its Strategy, Shows Protests


Government television covered the protests much as they had
occurred — to the surprise of many.







There have been massive protests, so far without violence at the percieved fiddling of the votes at the recent election. Putin has been given ceredit for stabilising the Economy but the people are upset at the obvious manipulation of the votes and this could escalate.

On Russian TV, a Straightforward Account Is Startling


By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ



Published: December 10, 2011

• 
  

MOSCOW — Regular viewers of government-controlled television were
treated to a curious sight when they tuned in to the evening news on
Saturday.






Multimedia








A Day of Protests













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Russian Protests









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• 
  
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  (December 11, 2011)
  
  

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Sweeping views of the tens of thousands of people who had crowded into a
central Moscow square for a sprawling anti-Kremlin protest cut away to
close-ups of groups of average citizens chanting, “New elections! New
elections!”
“Tens of thousands of people came out to register their disagreement
with the results of recent parliamentary elections, which they said were
rigged in favor of United Russia,” the ruling party, Aleksei Pivovarov,
one of the evening news hosts on government-controlled NTV, announced at the top of the broadcast Saturday.
In short, government television covered the protests much as they had occurred — to the surprise of many.
“They showed me on Channel 1
and said I was an opposition leader, which is already a breakthrough,”
said Boris Y. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister in the 1990s who
has not been shown on government-controlled television, save for perhaps
in court or handcuffs, for perhaps a decade. “They’re already calling
me from Washington and asking what’s going on.”
Indeed, for many it is not clear what exactly is happening in Russia these days, and the shift in television coverage is just one cause of confusion.
For more than a week, Moscow has witnessed some of the largest protests
against the Kremlin in years. Yet, until Saturday, most government
channels, if they reported on the demonstrations at all, tended to
portray protesters as rebels and lawbreakers, with at least one report
warning of people arming themselves with improvised bombs.
“In Russia, there is a culture of revolt,” Vladimir Solovyov, a
Kremlin-friendly television host, said in an evening news appearance on Rossia 1
last week. “And this culture of revolt ends in bloodshed. In Russia,
there is no culture of fighting for your rights within the framework of
the law.”
For more than a decade, television news in Russia has been used to support the government of Vladimir V. Putin.
Nightly newscasts are typically consumed with the bland minutia of
government: Mr. Putin meeting with the minister of transportation or
health or education about some problem of the day. Critics of the
government, when they get airtime at all, are mostly portrayed as
radicals or buffoons.
But the scale of the recent protests, especially on Saturday, seems to
have forced the Kremlin to confront the widespread and evident
discontent, even on television.
The three main government-controlled channels each led their evening
broadcasts on Saturday with reports about the protests. They showed the
huge crowds and their anti-Kremlin posters. In interviews, people at the
rallies complained about their votes having been stolen and expressed
their desire for new elections. Each of the channels also broadcast
calls for the ouster of Vladimir Y. Churov, the leader of Russia’s
Central Election Commission, an ominous signal about his future
employment.
Some reporters even seemed surprised that so many people could gather in one place peacefully.
“Today’s protest was a lesson for everyone,” said Andrei Medvedev in the
evening broadcast of Rossia 1. “It turns out that, to express your
dissatisfaction with the authorities, it is possible to gather on a
square after getting permission from those same authorities. And to keep
order, all you really have to do is give a polite admonition.”
Each of the stations also reported on the smaller demonstrations held in dozens of other large cities.
Notably absent from all television coverage, however, was any mention of
Mr. Putin — who is practically never shown in a negative light —
though, at the protest, he was denounced more than anyone.
No doubt a major explanation for the shift in coverage lies with heavy
penetration of the Internet in Russian society. With reports rocketing
through Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere, not to mention
professional news agencies online, the protest would have been
impossible to ignore.
Television journalists themselves might also have influenced the
coverage. Several seemed to have attended the protest on their own,
including Anton Krasovsky, the host of a political talk show on NTV, who
posted photos from the event to his Facebook page.
“To all those who were yelling that there would be blood, who hoped for
bodies, for provocations, what did you get?” Mr. Krasovsky wrote.
“Here’s to you,” he wrote, then told these detractors to go somewhere
unprintable.
Asked, in a telephone interview, about the apparent shift in tone in
coverage of the Saturday protest, Mr. Pivovarov from NTV was coy:

“You understand, the news is like a living thing and a living process.
It is like life. One day is not the same as another. Everything is
flowing and changing.”










A version of this article appeared in print on
December 11, 2011, on page A12 of the New York edition with the
headline: On Russian TV News, in Startling Shift, Straightforward
Account o









t

December 11, 2011 -- Updated 1617 GMT (0017 HKT)





Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday 10 December in protest at the election results.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The announcement comes after thousands of protesters allege fraud, demand new vote
  
• Medvedev: "I have ordered checks into all the reports from polling stations"
  
• United Russia suffered big losses in last week's election, but retained its parliamentary majority
  

Moscow (CNN) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
has called for a probe into allegations of vote fraud in recent
parliamentary elections, according to a post on his Facebook page
Sunday.

The announcement came a day after thousands of protesters braved
freezing temperatures to demonstrate in several cities to protest what
they believe were rigged elections.

"I agree neither with the slogans nor the statements voiced at the
protests," the statement on Medvedev's Facebook page said.
"Nevertheless, I have ordered checks into all the reports from polling
stations, regarding the compliance with the election laws."

United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, suffered
big losses in the election, but retained its parliamentary majority,
according to official results.




Huge crowd rallies in Moscow





Anti-Putin protesters rally in London


On Saturday, protesters in Moscow claimed the results were fraudulent
and chanted "Putin out," according to the state-run RIA Novosti news
agency.

Protester: We want free elections, not revolution

About 25,000 protesters demonstrated in a central square Saturday,
RIA Novosti said, citing police. There were no arrests, RIA Novosti
reported.

Organizers said 40,000 people had massed, the news agency reported.

The protesters demanded an annulment of the December 4 election and a new vote.

Around 7,000 people rallied in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, RIA Novosti said, citing police.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested during demonstrations last week.
Police said they cracked down on those demonstrations because the
turnouts were not legal and the protesters were being disorderly.

Election officials on Friday released the official election results:
238 seats for United Russia; 92 seats for the Communists; 64 seats for
Fair Russia; and 56 seats for the Liberal Democrats.


Arkady Irshenko and Phil Black contributed to this report.

Six foot eight inches multi millionaire Prokhorov is to challende Putin in the upcoming Election.

Panda

This is fun

Expect to see tanks on the streets.

Since when have people in Russia been able to protest and have an opinion.

Angelique wrote:Panda

This is fun

Expect to see tanks on the streets.

Since when have people in Russia been able to protest and have an opinion.

exactly...he"s a hunk as well as being filthy rich. The last person to try to unseat Putin suddenly dropped out apparently , I hope this guy is toughter, but Putin is popular it is more the Policies and the anger at the way the Relection was held that infuriated the people. shows Democracy is showing it"s
head above the parapet as you say.

It is expected that Medvedev will resign but Putin might want to run on his own. Political reform is needed in Russia and it was noted that this demonstration was peaceful.

ecember 24, 2011 -- Updated 1140 GMT (1940 HKT)




Thousands of people joined the election protest in Moscow on Saturday.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Thousands brave the bitter cold in Moscow to call for fair elections
  
• The mass protest follows an earlier one this month after parliamentary election results were announced
  
• Protesters want an investigation into this month's election results
  

Moscow (CNN) -- Thousands of people took to the
streets Saturday in Moscow, braving bitterly cold weather to demand for
fair elections after what they claim were rigged results earlier this
month that returned Vladimir Putin's party to power.

The protest, organized primarily through social media and word of
mouth, comes on the heels of an announcement by President Dmitry
Medvedev of sweeping political reforms, an effort to address discontent
following the December 4 parliamentary elections.

The latest mass protest follows one earlier this month, when tens of
thousands of people across Russia turned out to protest the election
results that kept Putin's ruling United Russia party in power, albeit
with a smaller majority. Police estimated crowds in Moscow at 25,000,
while organizers said at least twice as many participated.

The protests were considered -- among analysts and political observers -- the largest in Russia in the past two decades.

More than 40,000 people were expected to turn out Saturday, according to a Facebook forum discussion moderated by organizers.




Thousands expected in Moscow protest


Speaking this week before the newly elected parliament members in the
Kremlin's St. George Hall, Medvedev proposed that Russia return to
direct elections of regional governors; simplify the registration of
political parties and presidential candidates; and establish a new
editorially-independent national public TV channel.

Medvedev also called for lifting many of the political restrictions
imposed in the past several years by his predecessor, Putin, Russia's
current prime minister and candidate for the March 2012 presidential
elections.

He also announced a number of new anti-corruption measures and called
the redistribution of power and financial resources from the federal
government to local governments across the country.

At the same time, he rejected widespread public criticism of the
parliamentary elections, which were reportedly marred by fraud and other
irregularities, and blamed anti-Kremlin opposition figures for their
"attempts to manipulate the people and foment social discord."

"We will not allow instigators and extremists to involve society in
their reckless schemes, nor will we tolerate interference in our
internal affairs from the outside," Medvedev said.

"Russia needs democracy, not chaos. We need to have a faith for the
future and justice. It is a good sign that society is changing, and
citizens are expressing their position more actively, setting legitimate
demands to the authorities. It is a sign that our democracy is growing
more mature."

Protest organizers say Medvedev, who announced the reforms during his
fourth and final state-of-the-nation speech Thursday, said he failed to
address what authorities are planning to do about the recent alleged
voting fraud, as well as whether fair and free elections are guaranteed
in the future.