"News, Media and Political Power in Russia" by Olessia Koltsova

This book explores "news production" in Russia, examining the various agents who "make" the news, and discussing the fierce struggle among the various agents of power involved, including news producers themselves. Drawing on existing theories and scholarship, the book provides a wealth of detail on the actual daily practices of news production in Russia, arguing that power relations in news making are not just external intrusions into the pure process of the reflection of reality, but showing how the interaction of variously motivated agents is an intrinsic part of the news production process.


The book will be important for students of media studies, and for students of the politics of Russia, for whom the question of how far politicians continue to control the media in the post-communist era, as in the communist era, is a crucial issue.

Contents
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgments

PART I - Theories, methods and historical context
1 Catching the wind: theoretical approach to the study
2 Russian media system: historical background

PART II - Agents of power
3 State agents
4 State and non-state agents of violence
5 Owners
6 Advertisers
7 Sources of information
8 Rank-and-file journalists
9 Center and periphery of power: media top managers as power mediators

PART III - Special studies
10 Regional media landscapes: diversity of power configurations
11 The story of Peterburg – 5 Kanal
12 The story of NTV
13 Change in the coverage of the Chechen wars
Conclusion