Alexei Navalny’s death has barely featured on Russian state television, prompting citizens to turn to Telegram to learn more about the opposition leader’s death.
The three main Russian channels and largest news agencies are all directly or indirectly owned by the Kremlin.
Russia’s largest channel, Channel One, is directly owned by Putin’s government.
The BBC has reported that after announcing Navalny’s death yesterday, it took Channel One 45 minutes to release the message.
When the ‘murder’ of the opposition leader was eventually revealed to the public, it was said to have been short-lived. In fact, it is reported that no contextual information was even given about who he was nor why he was in prison.
The three main Russian channels and the three largest news agencies are all owned by the Kremlin
In Russia, well-known public figures loyal to Putin have already begun their onslaught of statements undermining the belief that Navalny was killed and trying to blame the West.
One channel didn’t even mention his full name.
Another saw a newscaster shut down a liberal politician who was a guest on the show. When the guest tried to express his condolences over Navalny’s death, he was interrupted by the program’s host.
The host then asked the guest what “condolences” had to do with the topic they were discussing.
In Russia, well-known public figures loyal to Putin have already begun their onslaught of statements shattering the belief that Navalny was murdered.
Some raise the question of why Putin would have done it when there was apparently no need to do so, as Navalny had long been out of the picture – stuck in a prison in the Arctic.
Russian citizens crisscross the state, turning to apps like Telegram to find the news
Some even put forward the idea that if it had been murder, it could have been committed by the West – perhaps to help spark a civil war.
The BBC reports that Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of international state broadcaster RT, said: “I won’t even begin to explain that everyone has long forgotten (Navalny), that there was no point in killing him, especially before the elections, that it would be beneficial to completely opposing forces.”
Other pro-Putin figures are trying to arouse suspicion in the West by suggesting that the speed with which the world’s media responded was almost like precognition.
Citizens are turning to social media, namely apps like Telegram, where they can access an unmoderated version of the real news – and not the heavily monitored version offered by the state.
Navalny is being mourned around the world, like here in Denmark in this mural – but it’s a different story in Russia, where the state heavily controls the news its citizens see
Some TV channels and news media in Russia are not directly owned by the state, but indirectly through state commodity giant Gazprom
Tweets, messages and videos are viewed millions of times an hour in Russia by people desperate to break the media blockade imposed by the Kremlin.
A well-known Telegram user is Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and the oligarch became a critic of Putin.
He used the app to share his opinion: “If this is true, then Vladimir Putin, regardless of the formal reason, bears personal responsibility for the untimely death.”
Russia’s state media rarely pays attention to opposition parties or critics even in normal times, so it is no surprise that they rarely address Navalny’s death.
However, the news outlets and channels cannot completely ignore the story, otherwise it would become completely clear that the state wants it hidden – so they must find a balance where they tell the story but give little away.
Russia does not directly own the entire TV and news industry. Some channels and outlets are owned by the Russian commodities giant Gazprom, which is in turn owned by the state.
Russia scores poorly in the area of press freedom, with journalists being seen as civil servants
According to an article in the Guardian, reporters working for state news channels in Russia are seen more as civil servants than as journalists.
News staff are said to have to attend ‘strategy meetings’ with government staff to ensure the right kind of information ends up in the public domain.
Russia ranks 150th out of all 180 countries listed when it comes to press freedom.
Navalny’s cause of death has now been revealed by Russian investigators after what state media promised would be “the most thorough investigation.”
The cause was deemed to be ‘Sudden Death Syndrome’.