All correspondents of Radio “Russian News Service” have resigned in protest at censorship

In an interview to the newspaper “Kommersant”, former employee of the news service Artem Khan explained that the new management had prohibited the journalists from covering the activities of the opposition and had instructed them to provide mainly “positive news”. Mr Khan considers this to be censorship and pressure from the new management.

He added that the new editorial policy had first been applied during the coverage of the Moscow “March of those in dissent” [Marsh niesoglasnykh] which was dispersed by OMON [riot police]. On 14 April the Chief Editor of the “Russian News Service” had stated directly that there would be no reporting from the march. The management was displeased with Mr Khan’s reports from the protest actions by the pro-Kremlin movement “Nashi” [“Ours”] outside the Estonian Embassy. The fact that the journalist called “Nashi”’ slogans provocation was seen as being a “pro-Estonian bent”. On 1 May the journalists were forbidden from covering the communist rally in Moscow.

In all, four journalists resigned over the situation.

Based on a report on www.telekritika.kiev.ua