"MEDIA AS A WEAPON: FROM GLASNOST TO CENSORSHIP"

"MEDIA AS A WEAPON: FROM GLASNOST TO CENSORSHIP" is a large documentary project about how Russian media over 40 years (1985–2025) went from being an instrument of freedom and public control to a system of centralized propaganda and censorship. The story is told through key events, key actors, original archival materials, exclusive interviews and insider information.

FORMAT: 4 episodes of 45 minutes.

EPISODE 1: "BREAKTHROUGH" (1985-1999)

EPISODE 2: "CAPTURING" (2000-2011)

EPISODE 3: "DISRUPTION" (2012-2020)

EPISODE 4: "REALITY" (2020-2025)

The dramatic history of Russian media in four episodes: from Moskovskiye Novosti, the first independent media outlet, to total information control.

• Starting point: Moskovskiye Novosti is a symbol of perestroika and new journalism.

• Dramatic turning point: Yukos' attempt to save MN is a vivid metaphor for the clash of the market, civil demand, and power politics.

• Systemic transformation: Evolution of control over media from "telephone law" to algorithmic and financial.

• New reality: Media diaspora, YouTube documentary, data journalism and crowd economy as a response to censorship.

KEY FACTORS:

Scales and universality of the topic:

How reality is formed in the minds of millions and who presses the "buttons". Themes of censorship, manipulation and choice are triggers for the modern audience, regardless of political preferences. And they always cause a powerful public resonance.

Personalized dramaturgy:

Personal stories and recognizable brands, bright figures, resonant conflicts - these are the stories that millions have followed.

Exclusive and infobombs:

Media competition, secret alliances and deals of the 90s, change of owners, war of compromising evidence, leak mechanics, etc.

Such content organically generates bright squabbles, discussions, citations and reactions of opinion leaders. Opinion Leaders involved in discussions involve their audience and then incrementally.

Multi-platform promotion / multi-format distribution:

Clip-making editing, short formats for social networks, infographics and archives - content is easily cut into high converting teasers and distributed in Reels/TikTok/YouTube Shorts/Tg, which boosts organic and spreads word of mouth.

Project team:

Authoritative specialists with a high reputation from different segments of the media sphere. The combination of competencies provides a multidimensional view of the topic and ensures the trust of the professional community. The team's expertise in mass formats guarantees the clarity and attractiveness of the created content for the widest audience. more engaging content.

MARIA STEPANOVA

Competencies: Poet, prose writer, editor-in-chief of Colta.ru (2009-2022). Laureate of the "Big Book" award, author of the novel "In Memory of Memory". Expert in cultural memory, archives, transformation of language and narratives.

GLEB MOREV

Competencies: Sociologist, public opinion analyst, specialist in the study of media consumption and information behavior. Author of studies on the influence of media on political processes.

MIKHAIL RATGAUZ

Competencies: Journalist, media manager with experience in key Russian publications and TV channels. Deep knowledge of the behind the scenes of the media market, the connections between business, government and editorial offices.

Possible participation: E. Shulman, A. Narinskaya, E. Lerer, T. Dzyadko, E. Khrongaus and others.

CHRONICLE ARC

The dramatic history of Russian media in four episodes: from "Moskovskiye Novosti", the first independent media outlet, to total information control.

• Starting point: "Moskovskiye Novosti" is a symbol of perestroika and new journalism.

• Dramatic turning point: YUKOS' attempt to save "MN" is a vivid metaphor for the clash of the market, civil demand, and power politics.

• Systemic transformation: Evolution of control over media from "telephone law" to algorithmic and financial.

• New reality: Media diaspora, YouTube documentary, data journalism and crowd economy as a response to censorship.
  

CHARACTER-DRIVEN SUBPLOTS

The trajectories of key figures in journalism - dramatic transformations of yesterday's fighters for glasnost into architects of Z-propaganda. The history of personal choices and compromises, parallel to major historical shifts. This is the second structural layer, which adds a human dimension.

SYSTEMS ARC

The third structural layer, showing how the media structures themselves changed: from independent editorial offices through oligarchic wars to verticals of total control. Economic mechanisms as a tool for subordinating the information field.

DRAMATURGICAL KEY

The convergent structure of the narrowing funnel of information freedom: from a multitude of independent voices to a monolithic space, where the pandemic and war became the final catalysts for the transformation of the media landscape, demonstrating the price of compromises and the inevitability of choice.

VISUAL LANGUAGE

Rich archival material in counterpoint with exclusive interviews and insider testimonies, creating a comprehensive picture of the evolution of Russian media from an instrument of public control to a system of state propaganda.

EPISODE 1: "BREAKTHROUGH" (1985-1999)

1985 - 1987: Glasnost as a political "hack" of the system. "Ogonyok" (Vitaly Korotich) and "Moskovskiye Novosti" (Yegor Yakovlev) as laboratories of new journalism: high-profile publications, restructuring of language, opening up "closed" topics.

1989 - 1991: The birth of a free press and television journalism. "Vzglyad", "Itogi", elections and August 1991 - the media become participants in history.

1992 – 1994: Pluralism and the market. Kommersant, independent editorial boards, and advertising money appear. MN and Ogonyok fight for audiences and financial stability in a wild market.

1994 – 1996: The war in Chechnya - a test of freedom. Field reports, audience shock, pressure on TV channels.

1996: Information mobilization around the presidential elections. The birth of "information wars" and alliances between media and capital.

1996 – 1999: NTV as a phenomenon of independent broadcasting. Information empires of oligarchs, TV-6, REN-TV, the formation of a market of influence.

EPISODE 2:  "CAPTURING" (2000-2011)

2000 – 2001: The NTV Conflict (Media-Most vs. Gazprom-Media) as a signal to the entire market. Change of ORT/RTR owners, new communication between the government and TV channels. New architecture of the controlled media market.

Early 2000s: Consolidation of media assets in structures close to the state. Advertising sellers, vertical news, "temniks" and manuals.

2003 – 2004: The YUKOS Case. A domino effect for independent platforms and the advertising market.

2003: YUKOS' attempt to support and save "Moskovskiye Novosti" as a symbol of independent journalism

2006 – 2011: New rules of the game. Pressure on regional media, cases against journalists, “targeted purges”. The emergence of significant online media: Lentaru, Newsru, Vedomosti, RBC as the “gray cardinal” of the business agenda.

EPISODE 3: "DISRUPTION" (2012-2020)

2011 – 2012: Protests and digital organization. YouTube, LiveJournal, Twitter as new editorial boards. Dozhd, Ekho Moskvy, RBC increase their influence.

2012 – 2014: Tightening the screws: Laws on “foreign agents", extremism, internet control. Removal of editors-in-chief, “investments” by friends of the state, change of agenda.

2014 – 2016: Ukraine, Crimea, Donbass: Stress test for principles. “Crimean consensus” on TV and demand for an alternative on YouTube. The creation of MBKh media.

2016 – 2020: The rise of online media: and attacks on independent media. Lenta.ru case, Meduza, RBC investigations, Proekt, iStories, The Bell. Telegram as a new broadcast, YouTube algorithms as a new “broadcast standard”.

EPISODE 4: “REALITY” (2020–2025)

2020 – 2021: The COVID-19 pandemic. Control of the flow, monopoly of expertise, closing the “window of doubt”.

2022 – 2025: A full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Criminal risks for “fakes”, media blocking, editorial exodus. The birth of a new media reality: blogger-reporters, Telegram channels, diaspora media in exile, “doc-YouTube” as the main genre.

Editorial offices and brands: Moskovskiye Novosti (MN), Ogonyok, Literaturnaya Gazeta, NTV, ORT/Perviy, RTR/Rossiya, Kommersant, Izvestia, REN-TV, TV-6/TVS, RBC, Lenta.ru, Vedomosti, Novaya Gazeta, Dozhd, Ekho Moskvy, TZh, Meduza, The Bell, Proekt, iStories, etc.

Owners and media moguls: Vladimir Gusinsky, Boris Berezovsky, Roman Abramovich, Alisher Usmanov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Yukos), Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Fridman, etc.

Government players: Presidential Administration, Ministry of Digital Development/Roskomnadzor, VGTRK, ANO "Dialogue", agencies and structures responsible for the distribution of state advertising and "information agenda".

Chief editors and journalists: Egor Yakovlev, Vitaly Korotich, Evgeny Kiselev, Leonid Parfenov, Anton Nosik, Galina Timchenko, Roman Badanin, Alexey Venediktov, Tatyana Felgenhauer, Yulia Latynina and many others.

Platforms and infrastructure: YouTube, VK/OK, Telegram, Rutube, Yandex/Zen, advertising networks, sellers, as well as Big Tech as "invisible editors" of algorithms.

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