Ted Turner Rides to Rescue of Russia's NTV
Comment: I am certain there is more going on here than meets the eye.
Could this mean that Ted might decide to buy a vacation dacha in Russia or one of the other former Soviet States?
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010404/wl/media_russia_dc_8.html
Wednesday April 4 3:50 PM ET
Ted Turner Rides to Rescue of Russia's NTV
By Peter Graff
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ted Turner, founder of CNN, on Wednesday rode to the rescue of Russia's only independent nationwide television station, where journalists have been battling a takeover from a Kremlin-dominated gas company.
Turner announced that he had reached an agreement with the embattled founder of NTV television to buy a stake in the network -- by far Russia's most influential source of information outside the Kremlin's control.
But much about the deal remained under wraps, and Turner's statement said he could only ensure NTV's independence if Gazprom also sold him shares. NTV's journalists say Gazprom's one aim is to impose the Kremlin's diktat on the station.
The gas company, which acquired a large stake in NTV by guaranteeing founder Vladimir Gusinsky's debts, said Tuesday it had sacked the board, ousting Gusinsky and replacing General Director Yevgeny Kiselyov with a 34-year-old American banker.
But NTV called the moves illegal. As a protest, it dropped its usual program of soap operas, films and light entertainment to broadcast only news, mostly about itself. Late Wednesday it made an exception for a soccer match.
Gazprom says it only wants to fix NTV's financial management and not meddle in editorial policy. But it has appointed as editor-in-chief the head of a state news agency, who has denounced the station's recent reporting as partisan.
Impassioned journalists called the move a crackdown on free speech. Politicians -- mostly liberals but also some Communists -- rushed to their defense, and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said he would intercede with President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites).
About 100 supporters gathered outside the station's studio, but its newscasters repeatedly said they did not yet want to encourage street protests, although they might call them later.
The European Union (news - web sites) also said it was concerned. Sweden, which holds the 15-nation bloc's rotating presidency said it ''stresses the importance that any changes at NTV do not have a negative impact on media pluralism in Russia.''
Turner Stands By Ntv Reporters
Turner said he stands by NTV's reporters and expressed disappointment at the turmoil surrounding the station.
``I am committed to the promotion of free and open media around the world, and highly value the journalistic staff that drives NTV and consider them to be highly professional and dependable,'' he said in the statement.
``While we are disappointed with the recent disruptive developments regarding NTV, we look forward with enthusiasm to finalizing an agreement with Gazprom and Gazprom-Media that will ensure the ongoing independence of NTV,'' Turner said.
The statement gave no financial details of Turner's deal with Gusinsky, or the size of the stake, but the Washington Post has reported the deal would be worth $225 million. Gusinsky is in Spain, fighting extradition on a Russian arrest warrant in a fraud case he says is part of the campaign to silence his media.
Turner's statement said the station's independence would be ensured if he reached an agreement to buy more shares from Gazprom, but did not make clear whether he was committed to buying shares from Gusinsky if talks with Gazprom fell through.
A spokesman for the Atlanta-based Cable News Network said Turner was acting outside his role as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN.
Gusinsky's Media-Most company sent a letter to Gazprom asking it to hold off on personnel changes for three months to allow new shareholder Turner to have a say.
``The new composition of NTV's management, its officials should be defined by the full line of the television station's shareholders,'' Media-Most's letter said.
Gorbachev, who heads an NTV standards watchdog, was one of the station's most impassioned defenders, denouncing the Gazprom takeover live on NTV's airwaves Tuesday. Wednesday he said he would bring the case to Putin.
The Russian president has made no comment on the affair this week, but has said in the past that it is a business matter that does not concern him. NTV called his silence part of a pattern.
``Putin declared war on NTV and now he says he has no link to this,'' said Kiselyov, who as well as NTV's general director is also its most prominent journalist.
