South Ossetian Media: The View From Inside
State-owned media dominate in South Ossetia: the newspaper South Ossetia, Churzarin (in Ossetian), Respublika, Ir television, which used to be independent, and three news agencies –cominf.org, osinform.ru, osradio.ru. The content differs very little between them, because they all share the same source, the Resagency (cominf.org), which answers directly to the Information and Press Committee of South Ossetia.
The only independent news outlet still functioning today is XXI vek, a newspaper which launched in 2006. There used to be an independent women’s magazine, Amaga, which covered social and political issues, but the last number appeared sometime around 2005.
XXI vek is mainly funded by its own journalists. They contribute part of their earnings from other activities, such as their work for NGOs. It has also received contributions from small businessmen, including the paper’s founder and chief editor, Timur Tskhurbati.
Around five years ago some journalists began publishing alternative information in personal blogs. They covered local events passed over by the Russian information agencies, which were the regular outlet for local independent journalists. These blogs get as much attention as regular media.
In the run-up to the presidential elections of 2011 and 20112, a number of businessmen decided to invest in media, mainly setting up websites. However this did not mean the much-anticipated birth of a South Ossetian information industry, because their aims were strictly short-term, to influence the elections and further their own political ambitions. The pre-election internet wars had little to do with the promotion of independent media and freedom of speech.
Sites that started up at this time included www.osetia.kvaisa.ru, www.razma.ru, www.irontimes.ru, www.uasamonga.ru. They opposed the Kokoiti government, and either closed down after the elections or continued publishing without “oppositionist” content. The www.osetia.kvaisa.ru site still exists but the content is refreshed only occasionally. www.razma.ru is defunct, while www.irontimes.ru turned into a bog standard Russian site with some Ossetian content. The www.uasamonga.ru site was frozen after the arrest of its founder Soslan Kokoev in December 2011 when the presidential elections were boycotted by the Kremlin. Two months later Moscow ensured its own favored candidate, Leonid Tibilov, won. Kokoev was released from jail two years later, but has shown no sign so far of starting up his site again.
Russian media also play a big role in providing information. This includes independent web resources like Kavkazsky uzel, Ekho Kavkaza, Bolshoi Kavkaz and newspapers like Kommersant and Novaya gazeta, as well as state-owned press and television and news agencies.
In analysing the state of media in South Ossetia, we need to factor in not just whether freedom of speech is possible or not possible, but also economic conditions. Today’s reality is that the cost of paper and printing, plus a level of income too low for most people to be able to afford newspapers and cable television, means that any attempt to establish an independent media outlet is doomed from the start. While in Europe the license fee levied on ownership of television sets ensures adequate funding for editorially independent public service broadcasting, this is practically impossible in the former USSR. It is difficult to explain to a public in a place where there is no real culture of democracy that it is better to pay a small fee and be able to watch unbiased information than to pay nothing and be subjected to the fantasies and propaganda of media owners of one kind or another.
Nevertheless, the main factor influencing media in the authoritarian conditions of South Ossetia is the persecution of journalists. Beating up or arresting journalists and kicking their family members out of their jobs is considered almost normal. The editor and owner of XXI vek, Timur Tskhurbati, was recently denounced as a traitor on the Osradio site. This was not the first time this has happened, and he has also been beaten up twice. He has had to suspend publication for long periods because constant threats and being denied access to news makers made it impossible for the paper to function normally. Even though South Ossetia’s constitution guarantees fee speech, in practice citizens only have access to government owned media and freedom of speech is a fiction.
The authorities have always used, and always will, the outside threat to the country’s existence to combat dissent, and many journalists practice self-censorship on the principle of “do no harm”. The result is that some journalists abandon the profession, while others retreat so far into propaganda they forget that they used to think differently.
On the other hand, while the work of independent journalists, if not subjected to outside interference, would encourage the development of democracy, this process cannot be based solely on free speech. The observance of basic principles such as the division of powers, free enterprise, respect for human rights, the supremacy of the law, are all essential, though here, too, the role of mass media is crucial in whether they flourish or not.
Internet sites became a factor in the media scene early in the new millennium. The first independent information portal was www.uasdan.com. The articles were mainly analytical, and readers could also leave comments. The site did not become popular until early in 2009, when government media first noticed it and started attacking it, especially Osradio, so producing a surge in its audience. The sites’ founder, Alan Chochiev, was a favorite target. Chochiev later fell out with his co-founder, human rights activist Ruslan Makaev, and started a new site with an almost identical name – www.uacdan.com.
Another independent site – www.aranzeld.com - covers cultural issues.
Today, internet has become the main platform for independent media, but poor communications infrastructure and the cost of connectivity are a major obstacle to reaching people in South Ossetia. Journalists believe that when the infrastructure improves, conditions for independent journalism and the development of freedom of speech will improve along with it.
