- But he is right here.- Yes, he is right. It is cynical and, indeed, thanks for being honest so to say. TV exists with the knowledge that an audience is watching it, and with each year the audience becomes simpler by age and educational level. But this is the main mass media in Russia. Not only in Russia, in all countries, but in Russia somehow even more so. The internet has penetrated it less than other developed countries. And we see in connection with the events in Ukraine how it works. A serious propaganda resource is turned on, and it is done quite professionally. People understand for whom to work and how to do it. We see it every day. If previously there were two programs of Mr Solovyov per week - "Duel" on Thursday and "Sunday Evening". Now he is there every day at the best time, at 9 p.m. And Mr Tolstoy has an afternoon program, and there are many other programs on this topic. Everybody sees how the rating of the president is growing and so does the support for his policy, this is the influence of TV. TV made these things sharper. I am trying to write about it and analyze it.- By the way, housewives do not like it that much, Because the films that they wait for are now moved to the night hours, and they have to watch them until 3 a.m.- You know, nothing can be done against this. But I have to say our TV is quite diverse, there are many channels. And if a housewife does not like being stunned by the information about Ukraine, she can turn to a channel to watch what she likes. There is some choice today.- Yes, satellite TV. But I mean the films and TV series on the "Russia-1" channel, they are not bad.-I would not say they are of good quality. Or rather, it is very rare when they are of good quality.-I meant from the point of view of the housewives.- As for them, they are ready to cry at some soap operas. But "Russia-1" once a year has some highlights, like the film "Life and Destiny" by Sergey Ursulyak. Generally what he does for "Russia-1" somehow cleans the reputation of this channel. Because the work of Sergey Ursulyak has some meaning. While otherwise "Russia-1" just adjusts to its audience. There are a few exceptional programs and films that reveal other levels, and Sergey Ursulyak is among the key figures here. He should receive credit for this.
A TV observer of MK is the guest of “Take My Word”
Interview by Oleg Kusov, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
A TV observer of Moskovsky Komsomolets, Alexander Melman, is a guest of “Take My Word.”
- Alexander, the first traditional question of our show is when were you last in the Caucasus? What was special about the visit?
- I visited Baku two years ago during the shooting of a short film – a co-production between Russia and Azerbaijan. The film was about the Great Patriotic War. It was nominated in Cannes. I was invited by the producer Masha Ivanova. And I lived in Baku for three days, while shooting took place in the countryside. So I have to take a long way to it. And the three days were happy for me. I had wanted to visit the city for such a long time. And I studied post-Soviet Baku somehow. It was very interesting to see how the city lived and developed.
- Did you know Soviet Baku?
- I didn’t. I watched films and read materials about it. I wanted to understand the changes which were happening there, about the Russian language, how young people viewed Russia. Of course I remembered one of the favorite films of our generation – The Diamond Arm – which was shot there.
- In the old city, in the Fortress.
- Yes. I found the place where Mironov said “Damn it!” And it was very important for me and interesting. I felt old ties with the city and the nation. And I wanted to feel it in reality. I got a lot of impressions. It was interesting. I have a moment which is not typical for your audience probably. I am a soft imperialist. When I walked down Baku streets, listened to people’s conversations, saw shop signs, I wanted to return, even though I had never been in Baku before, return to the Soviet time; I wished the signs had been in Russian and Russian speech had been heard. But there were not so many Russian-speaking strangers. However, I communicated with everybody in Russian there. Now it is a different country, and I realize it. But I should admit that I missed the times.
- As for your observation, how do the Azerbaijanis regard Russia today?
- You know my contacts were rather domestic.
- It is the most interesting thing. Politics is often hypocritical.
- Yes, politics is something artificial, it is a form. But the content is revealed in conversations with ordinary people, taxi drivers, those who played in the film, countryside residents. For example, a young man who hosted us studied at a Russian school, I mean a school for the Russian language.
- Russian is a popular language in Baku.
- Yes. But other young people who didn’t study in a special school spoke Russian poorly. Of course, at the mentality level, they regard Russian very well. At the same time, when I asked a taxi driver whether he wanted to return to the Soviet Union, he answered “no, I want to live in a free, independent Azerbaijan.” At the same time, we had a nice conversation, and we communicated well, but the independence of Azerbaijan is of high value for them. They felt it and it is important for them. I understand it, of course, but still I miss the big united country.
- I noted that Baku residents respected the President of Russia. They like him. They told me it themselves, I didn’t ask them about their views on Vladimir Putin.
- This is interesting, as perhaps the Caucasus mentality is revealed through the attitude. Many people in the Caucasus, not only those in Baku, as I believe despite all difficulties in relations with Georgia, they treat him…
- There is a myth in Georgia that Putin was born in the republic. And all Tbilisi taxi drivers will tell you about it.
- Wow! They also say that Mikhail Saakashvili is a new Vladimir Putin. Maybe the idea was created by political scientists, but something is truthful in the thought – Putin is Saakashvili’s idol. He also wants to spread his influence all over Georgia and govern Georgia, just like Putin in Russia, even though obedience is quite ephemeral. In the Russian Caucasus people regard Putin respectfully as well.
- Ramzan Kadyrov often says it.
- The other thing is when it is based on personal agreements, it is not firm, when there is no system, there are such relations of an overlord and a local khan. Yes, it is quite a strong contact, but it could be destroyed for natural reasons, and there could be other reasons. But probably it is a separate question.
- It is a separate topic, but it is very interesting. The Caucasus vision is specific, as there are different social structures: in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia. I think we will talk about it later. Let’s turn to your professional topic – television. Of course, television is a specific kind of information. They say that television influences the emotions of people more than their minds. You wrote that it is for housewives. The point is influence on one aspect or another.
- Yes, it differs from MK and “Echo of Moscow.” Housewives, because the daytime schedule of the First Channel includes “Time Will Show.” It is an unprecedented thing. Usually politics is not discussed at daytime. It is day prime time for housewives.
- There was “Different News.”
- Yes, “Different News,” positive shows, cooking shows, or discussions of local problems.
- Opposition activist Makarevich was an anchor of “Smak”. Today he is not welcome on state television.
- Makarevich was an anchor of Smak, when he wasn’t an opposition activist. In the whole world daytime shows are targeted at housewives. And due to Ukrainian events, a political talk-show on the topic appeared – “Time Will Show” with Peter Tolstoy. And it is a rather interesting precedent, which confirms the strengthening of propaganda which now is spread for daytime TV-shows which are created for seemingly apolitical people. However, they receive their part of propaganda. But you say it influences emotions; of course this is true. But also it influences psychologically and minds to a lesser extent. Analysis is used by TV to a lesser extent. There is a “journalist”, Mikhail Leontyev, now he is a propagandist, but he used to be a journalist.
- He worked for Radio Svoboda.
- Yes, he was a good journalist, and he is still a smart person, but after some things I cannot say that he is a journalist, unfortunately.
- He crossed the line of journalism and shifted to propaganda.
- Indeed. When he had a program at "Echo of Moscow", his "Special opinion", he said one thing. He has the program "However" on the TV, and he said that "on the TV I speak simpler, I know that it is a different audience, I know that they want only black and white, while at "Echo of Moscow" I try to convey all the complexity".
- But he is right here.
- Yes, he is right. It is cynical and, indeed, thanks for being honest so to say. TV exists with the knowledge that an audience is watching it, and with each year the audience becomes simpler by age and educational level. But this is the main mass media in Russia. Not only in Russia, in all countries, but in Russia somehow even more so. The internet has penetrated it less than other developed countries. And we see in connection with the events in Ukraine how it works. A serious propaganda resource is turned on, and it is done quite professionally. People understand for whom to work and how to do it. We see it every day. If previously there were two programs of Mr Solovyov per week - "Duel" on Thursday and "Sunday Evening". Now he is there every day at the best time, at 9 p.m. And Mr Tolstoy has an afternoon program, and there are many other programs on this topic. Everybody sees how the rating of the president is growing and so does the support for his policy, this is the influence of TV. TV made these things sharper. I am trying to write about it and analyze it.
- By the way, housewives do not like it that much, Because the films that they wait for are now moved to the night hours, and they have to watch them until 3 a.m.
- You know, nothing can be done against this. But I have to say our TV is quite diverse, there are many channels. And if a housewife does not like being stunned by the information about Ukraine, she can turn to a channel to watch what she likes. There is some choice today.
- Yes, satellite TV. But I mean the films and TV series on the "Russia-1" channel, they are not bad.
-I would not say they are of good quality. Or rather, it is very rare when they are of good quality.
-I meant from the point of view of the housewives.
- As for them, they are ready to cry at some soap operas. But "Russia-1" once a year has some highlights, like the film "Life and Destiny" by Sergey Ursulyak. Generally what he does for "Russia-1" somehow cleans the reputation of this channel. Because the work of Sergey Ursulyak has some meaning. While otherwise "Russia-1" just adjusts to its audience. There are a few exceptional programs and films that reveal other levels, and Sergey Ursulyak is among the key figures here. He should receive credit for this.
