Russia/Media Markets

Reuters: Disney takes over Kremlin in Russian market drive

"A recent report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers said Russia's entertainment and media market is the fastest growing in Europe, surging 27.4 percent last year. That compares to flat growth in most Western developed countries."

"The Russian market including film, video, Internet products, print media, sporting events and theme parks hit $12.45 billion last year, PwC said in a study of global entertainment industry. That is just a fraction of the global $1.3 trillion market but growing fast, driven by the film and advertising industries and fuelled by higher disposable incomes on booming oil prices."

Russia/Copyrights

Interfax: Vedomosti backs news agencies' statement on copyright

"The business daily Vedomosti said it applauds a statement on intellectual property protection that was issued by Russia's three leading news agencies - Interfax, ITAR-TASS, and RIA Novosti - on Friday."

""All civilized market players understand that the intellectual property problem needs to be sorted out. I am very pleased with a statement in which these leading news agencies said that not only do they see this problem as a matter of concern, but they are also trying to join forces to find a solution to it as soon as possible," Vedomosti publisher Mikhail Dubik told Interfax on Saturday."

Russia/Copyright Lawsuits

The Moscow Times: Vedomosti Launches Copyright Lawsuit

"In one of the largest copyright lawsuits in the Russian media, Vedomosti said that it was suing online news agency RosBusinessConsulting for $9.7 million, alleging that the web site had posted 100 of Vedomosti's stories without giving the paper credit. RosBusinessConsulting, or RBC, denied the accusation, and asked Vedomosti's shareholders, three major Western publishers, to sell full control of the newspaper for $56 million."

Russia/Tv-News-Channel

The Guardian: Hacker halts Russian news channel

"A Russian computer hacker has brought down the country's first English-language news station just two days after its launch.Russia Today, a 24-hour, state-funded news channel, was launched on Saturday in a move aimed at improving Russia's image abroad.Before being forced off air on Monday, the satellite channel broadcast news packages on the Russian constitution and the new parliament in Chechnya."

Russia/TV-News-Channel

The Boston Globe: Russia reaches out to world with TV channel

"English-language, state-funded television channel went live from its Moscow studios yesterday, aiming to broadcast news from a Russian perspective around the globe."

Russia/New Law

RIA Novosti: Duma allows Public Chamber to monitor freedom of speech in media

"The lower house of the Russian parliament adopted a law in its third reading Friday that gives the Public Chamber the right to control the observance of freedom of speech in the mass media."

Bulgaria/News Corporation

The Independent: Murdoch targets Balkans for new News land grab

"Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of global media conglomerate News Corporation, is looking to Bulgaria for his next land grab. News Corp, through its subsidiary Balkan News Corporation (btv), is planning to spend an estimated £50m on bolt-on acquisitions such as radio and outdoor advertising businesses over the next months."

East Europe/Burda

The International Herald Tribune: Burda looks beyond printing

"The grease and machinery of the printing press have almost become a sideline to the tool that Burda sees as central to the next generation of publication: social software. This encompasses everything from Web logs to community-building Web sites that let readers create their own content through reviews and comments."

"Printing will not go away, but I do not plan to open a single new printing plant," Burda said. "We now concentrate on using social software to build closer relations with the communities of readers around our magazines."

Russia/Newspapers

The Guardian: Izvestia editor sacked by new owners

"The editor-in-chief of one of Russia's oldest broadsheet newspapers has been replaced by a tabloid veteran in a sign of the Kremlin's desire to silence press critics. Izvestia, which was bought in the spring by the media arm of the state-controlled energy giant, Gazprom, will be edited by Vladimir Mamontov."

Russia/Putin´s Opinion on Media Freedom

Ria Novosti: Putin says government does not want to control media

"Russian President Vladimir Putin told members of the Dutch media Monday (31.10.) that he does not have the intention, nor the possibility, of controlling the Russian media. There are currently 47,000 periodicals printed in Russia and about 3,000 radio and TV stations, the president said. "I am not even speaking about the Internet, which is developing with complete freedom, and entirely without control - and the number of Internet users is continually growing," he said. However, Putin did say Russia has significant problems with freedom of speech and that the country's rank of 138th in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom ranking should be noted."

Russia/Internet Advertising Outlook

ClickZNews: ZenithOptimedia Raises Internet Forecast

"ZenithOptimedia upgraded its outlook for Internet advertising on a global scale, saying it now expects the medium to hold a 4.3 percent market share in 2005, as compared to the 4.1 percent share it predicted in July. The company also increased its total global ad spend forecast. The nations with the highest growth rates are the "BRIC" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The group will drive 27 percent of world ad growth for the year."

Bulgaria/"New" Business Magazine

Publicitas: BusinessWeek and CASH Media Group to Launch Bulgarian Language Edition of BusinessWeek

"Business Week, the best-selling global business magazine and CASH Media Group, a publishing company based in Sofia, have announced an agreement to publish a Bulgarian language edition of BusinessWeek. The first issue is scheduled for launch in January 2006."

"The BusinessWeek Bulgarian language edition will be published weekly and will be available on newsstands and via subscription. Editorial content will consist of selected material from the North American and international editions of BusinessWeek and original local editorial developed by CASH's journalists."

Poland/New Magazines

Publicitas: Edipresse Polska invests in parenting segment

"Edipresse Polska has launched two new parenting magazines; "Twój Maluszek" and "Przedszkolak ". Started from October 2005, 200'000 copies of Twój Maluszek will be distributed monthly for free to urban dwelling mothers with children up to the age of 2 years."

Russia/Prize for Courage in Journalism

Mediachannel.org: Russian Journalist Wins First Annual Paul Klebnikov Prize for Courage in Journalism

"The Paul Klebnikov Fund will award prominent Russian journalist Diana Kachalova the first annual Paul Klebnikov Prize for Courage in Journalism. The Prize honors the memory of the recently murdered editor of Forbes Russia."

"Diana Kachalova is the trail-blazing editor-in-chief of the weekly Moi Rayon newspaper in St. Petersburg, Russia. Moi Rayon is quite an unusual endeavor for Russia: a grass roots, independent and privately owned newspaper which publishes weekly editions in St. Petersburg’s 11 administrative districts."

Russia/Press Freedom

Editorsweblog: How a European editor experiences press freedom in Russia

"The Financial Times interviewed the Dutchmen Derk Sauer, one of the most important publishers in Russia, and asked him about the situation of press freedom in Russia. Derk Sauer is founder and chief executive of the Russian publisher Independent Media, that was bought for $ 172 million by the Finnish media group SanomaWSOY earlier this year."

"Asked for how much press freedom there is in Russia, Sauer, who has been in Moscow for 16 years now, answered: "The Russian authorities have solved the problem quite cleverly, from their perspective. They have said, 'Well, we will control TV, and the newspapers we will leave free.' Independent news on television doesn't exist. But we and some other papers can write anything, because the authorities are very practical ... The funny thing about Russia: there is complete press freedom for the informed, but none for the uninformed. The informed, the people who read Vedomosti or Kommersant and papers like that, know a lot anyway because they also see satellite TV and the internet. There is no point trying to suppress us. It would just create a fuss and international criticism. We are even an alibi for the Russian authorities. Recently Walter Mondale, the American politician, was in Moscow, and he read the Moscow Times and said: 'Gosh, what press freedom!'"

"But the press also seems to have no impact. Sauer said, "In Russia, the effect of what you publish is different from in the west: nothing happens. The role of the press only works if it is followed up. But we reveal something every week: that someone is corrupt, that the justice system has made a mistake, we reveal the craziest things. And nothing happens. Deathly silence. It is revealed that the ballot boxes were rigged in the elections. People just say, 'So you thought the elections weren't fixed?'"

Belarus/Russia/Deutsche Welle

MosNews.com: Russia Angered by Deutsche Welle Broadcasts in Belarus

"A new radio program by Deutsche Welle for listeners in authoritarian-ruled Belarus is creating tension between Berlin and Moscow, Der Spiegel magazine reported. The daily 15-minute broadcast in Russian, which can also be found on the Internet, offers information on the opposition in Belarus that is not reported by state-controlled media in the state of President Alexander Lukashenko. The EU is subsidizing the program on air with an initial amount of $110,000 annually."

Romania/New Magazines

Publicitas: Edipresse AS Romania is launching various magazines

"Edipresse AS Romania is launching, under the license of Edipresse Hymsa Spain, two more titles: Vacanta ta Perfectã (original title: Rutas del Mundo) and Lucru de Mânã (original title: Labores del Hogar) - the best-selling magazines in Spain and Portugal, on their segment.The magazine appeals to both men and women, aged 25 to 45 years, active, with urban residentes (large cities and Bucharest), high school and university graduates, higher-than-average income."

"Launched in 1926, in Spain, Labores del Hogar is the best-selling magazine in Spain and Portugal in its segment. (The circulation of the magazine in Spain: 71'757 copies).The magazines will be launched with an initial net print run of 20'000 each, with a minimum of 116 pages and an advertising rate card of 1'500 EUR/ full page."

"Computer Bild is the best-selling IT title in the German market since its launch. It is now published in Germany, Spain and Poland as well as in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy and Macedonia. Computer Bild is the magazine for the young, educated people interested in the latest technical products and easy to understand information about their quality and function."

"The magazine has a minimum of 114 pages and will be on the market starting 10th of October, with a net print run of 25'000 and a rate card of 1'800 EUR/page. The magazine has a CD attached in every issue at the price of 6 lei."

Russia/Weekly Newspapers

The Moscow Times: Gaidamak Takes Over Moskovskiye Novosti

"Moskovskiye Novosti, a flagship of the liberal press from the time of perestroika that is now suffering a deep editorial crisis, has an unexpected new owner. Arkady Gaidamak, a Moscow-born businessman with four passports and a controversial past, confirmed to Ekho Moskvy radio (10.10.) he had bought the weekly newspaper."

East Europe/Investigative Reporting/Internet

Journalism.co.uk: Commitment, not cash, is key to investigative journalism

"The report editor, Dutch investigative journalist Dick van Eijk, told journalism.co.uk that investigative journalism was developing a strong online presence in countries that have continued to see major assaults on press freedom since the collapse of the Soviet Union – in Russia and the Ukraine, for example."

"While only between three and five per cent of the population have access to the internet in the Ukraine, two sites became very influential in the run up to the Orange Revolution – Ukraina Kriminalna (now sold) and Ukrainska Pravda. The murder of the investigative reporter who founded Ukrainska Pravda in November 2000 sparked a political crisis."

Serbia and Montenegro/New Gossip Weekly

Publicitas.com: Sanoma Magazines launches Story

"Sanoma Magazines SMG operating in Serbia and Montenegro has launched the Serbian edition of the gossip weekly Story. The first issue of Story was presented during a launch party in the capital, Belgrade, on Tuesday 27 September. That same day Story was available on the market with a print run of 70,000 copies."