Stephen Ennis
is Russian media analyst for BBC Monitoring.
Blog posts in total 41
Posts
New Russian TV ad law sees indie joke about becoming a shopping channel
Independent Russian media are subject to increasing restrictions. Here's how one TV station warns about a ban on pay TV taking ads
Are ratings driving Russian TV propaganda on Ukraine?
Russian news bulletins have enjoyed a boost to ratings since the Ukraine conflict began. A former Kremlin spin doctor warns of "ultra-propaganda" in television coverage of the conflict, and that the needs of TV are even influencing government policy.
Russia's journalists join wave of disillusioned emigrants
Several prominent Russian journalists have emigrated, complaining about restrictions on media freedom in Russia
New ad law set to wreak havoc in Russian TV market
A new Russian law which stops pay TV channels from carrying ads is widely seen as an attempt to curtail media freedom by undermining smaller players.
Russian TV airs media death threats
For the first time, death threats against journalists and media organisations have been uttered with apparent impunity on Russian television.
UK journalist caught up in Russia-Ukraine media battle
Reporters are playing a central role in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, according to Mark Franchetti, who found himself part of the media battle after appearing on TV in Ukraine.
Competing interpretations of Ukraine: Journalism v propaganda
On 28 April, media around the world carried reports about an attack by pro-Russian militants in the eastern city of Donetsk on a Ukraine unity demonstration.
Russian TV host in nuclear holocaust warning
Dmitriy Kiselev, star presenter on official Russian TV channel Rossiya 1, boasted that Russia was the only country genuinely capable of turning the USA into radioactive ash.
Olympics Nazi row threatens top Russian radio station
Comparisons between Russian skaters’ gold-winning triumph and Hitler’s Nazi Olympics could spell trouble for independent Ekho Moskvy radio.
Russian TV ignores controversy to put Putin centre stage at Sochi
The Winter Olympics in Sochi is not only a challenge for Russia's government and athletes, but also for its main state broadcaster VGTRK, one of whose tasks appears to be to present the event as a personal triumph for President Vladimir Putin.
Russian media just gets more bizarre - and occasionally uplifting
Watching the Russian media has always had its fair share of disturbing moments, but recently it has been like peering into a twilight zone of surreal paranoia.
Russian protests at TV teddy’s lie-down strike
One of the best-loved programmes for children in Russia has come under fire from opposition activists after allegedly parodying the anti-Kremlin protest movement.
Lost in translation? What exactly does Russia mean by an ‘act of provocation’ in Syria?
UK audiences have being hearing about how Russia thinks the chemical attack inflicted on a suburb of Damascus on 21 August was an act of provocation. But might difficulties over the translation of a tricky Russian term be causing some listeners or viewers to misconstrue what Moscow has in mind?
What President Putin isn’t saying at the G20 – or anywhere else
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have a speech impediment. For some reason, he does not appear to be able to utter the name of opposition leader and Moscow mayoral candidate Aleksey Navalnyy.
Quadcopter is Russian activists' new anti-corruption weapon
Russian anti-corruption campaigners have a new weapon in their struggle to cast a light on the vast fortunes amassed by government officials: the quadcopter.
Are Putin mockers dupes of the Kremlin PR machine?
In the latest in his series of daredevil he-man stunts, Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared on prime-time news landing an enormous pike during a fishing trip in Siberia.
Russian media and the art of ‘provokatsiya’
In a media context, provokatsiya often refers to a hoax designed to embarrass or discredit someone.
Anatomy of Putin’s divorce announcement
The announcement of the divorce of the Putins was a classic piece of Kremlin media manipulation.
Russia's public service TV channel launches under fire
The first public service TV channel in Russia, OTR, which began broadcasting on 19 May, has received mixed reviews. The channel has been characterised, for instance, as "a fat not-so-young opera diva playing a light-footed youthful heroine" or the elderly Mr Burns from the US cartoon The Simpson...
Russian media at odds with polls on new anti-gay law
As Moscow prepares to pass legislation that would ban the promotion of homosexuality among children, a number of liberal Russian magazines and websites have challenged the widespread homophobia in the country.
