The media that promoted ethnic hatred both in the center and in the republics in the late 80's - early 90's, also played a role in the collapse of the USSR, which was preceded by the loss of the ethical and moral values and principles of several generations, the chairman of the All-Russian Congress of Ethno-journalists, editor-in-chief of 'Vesti', Jamil Sadyhbekov, stated to Vestnik Kavkaza.
First of all, he recalled that in those days, people lived in a completely different informational environment. "Today we have access to the internet and the opportunity to choose among hundreds of media, but at the time, the Soviet Union had only 2-3 key federal media, where some non-professional journalists worked, who incited ethnic hatred, pursuing a variety of interests. Of course, what was said and shown on television in Moscow was also broadcasted by national media – and it was very dangerous," Sadyhbekov noted.
The problem was also in the inability to provide informational protection of the republic: under the strict vertical of power in the Soviet Union, they did not have access to federal information sources. "At the same time, you know, everything that descended, everything was executed locally. Although there were attempts to suppress nationalist movements, the ones that were shaking this ship and were separatists, they continued to engage in propaganda of war and nationalism," he pointed out.
As a result, the combination of lack of professionalism of some journalists and lobbying of their own interests by influential power groups in the center had a devastating effect. "The first of the factors is the very weak level of the number of journalists, who, unfortunately, were biased while covering the events preceding the collapse of the USSR. The second is the presence of very strong groups in Moscow, which pushed people to ethnic hatred," Jamil Sadyhbekov stated.
"Sometimes, in many media, you can meet journalists who are very far from objective coverage of interethnic and religious topics that continue to destabilize the situation. For example, the anniversary of the referendum of March 17th 1991 on the preservation of the USSR was marked the day before, and still some media, especially on television, showed journalists, far from humanism in general, who once again raised a wave of hatred and war," he expressed regret.
