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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                        Robyn Morrow             Chris Elliott                        
                                               John Arterbury       Caitlin Cuppernull

Russia's old habits die hard

While our country may have its fair share of biased reporters and slanted news stations, compared to Russia's media, Bill O'Reilly could look like a bastion of objectivity.

At Russian News Services, Russia's largest independent radio news network, new managers have stated that 50 percent of radio news reports concerning Russia must be "positive," the New York Times reported. Employees of Russian News Services told the New York Times that the new managers also informed them that opposition leaders could not be mentioned and that the United States must be portrayed as an enemy.

With this change of management, the Times reported that Russia is left with only one independent radio news source with a national reach.

This isn't the first example of state-controlled media in Russia. Friends of the Kremlin head most of the country's media outlets, and Parliament recently passed a ban on "extremism" in politics. There is also a great deal of speculation surrounding numerous journalists found murdered.

Often called the "watchdog," the role of the media is to provide accurate coverage of important issues, whether they are positive or negative. When the government intervenes this role vanishes. The plan to control media outlets is a poor one — when citizens know that their media is state-controlled they will be more likely to disregard it than accept it as gospel. Despite this, any attempt at controlling the media is unacceptable.

While our news anchors may seem more concerned with ratings and shock value, at least we live in a country where being a journalist won't get you killed. We should be thankful that news and radio stations aren't given mandates about how much negativity they can dish out. Well, maybe that Katie Couric is. Her peppiness is a little suspicious.