Mariëlle Wijermars - Freedom of Expression in Russias New Mediasphere

In recent years, the Russian government has dramatically expanded its restrictions on the internet, while simultaneously consolidating its grip on traditional media. The internet, however, because of its transnational configuration, continues to evade comprehensive state control and offers ever new opportunities for disseminating and consuming dissenting opinions. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, including media law, human rights, political science, media and cultural studies, and the study of religion, this book examines the current state of the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and media freedom in Russia, focusing on digital media and cross-media initiatives that bridge traditional and new media spheres. It assesses how the conditions for free speech are influenced by the dynamic development of Russian media, including the expansion of digital technologies, explores the interaction and transfer of practices, formats, stylistics and aesthetics between independent and state-owned media, and discusses how far traditional media co-opt strategies developed by and associated with independent media to mask their lack of free expression. Overall, the book provides a deep and rich understanding of the changing structures and practices of national and transnational Russian media and how they condition the boundaries of freedom of expression in Russia today.

Marille Wijermars is a researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Katja Lehtisaari is a university lecturer at Media and Communication Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland.

This series is published on behalf of BASEES (the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies). The series comprises original, high-quality, research-level work by both new and established scholars on all aspects of Russian, Soviet, post-Soviet and East European Studies in humanities and social science subjects.

The Ghosts of Others

Ideational Legacies and Institutionalised Conflict and Co-operation

Christian Anarcho-Pacifist Iconoclasm Then and Now

For a full list of available titles please visit: https://www.routledge.com/BASEES-Routledge-Series-on-Russian-and-East-European-Studies/book-series/BASEES

First published 2020

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2020 selection and editorial matter, Marille Wijermars and Katja Lehtisaari; individual chapters, the contributors

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ISBN: 978-1-138-34665-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-43720-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

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This book is the final outcome of the research project Russian Media Lab: Freedom of Speech and Critical Journalism in Russia, coordinated by the University of Helsinkis Aleksanteri Institute as part of the Russia HUB Helsinki activities and funded by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation (20162019). The editors would like to thank Peter Sowden, our commissioning editor at Routledge, for his enthusiasm for the project as well as Birgit Beumers and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback. We are particularly indebted to Janne Suutarinen, our research assistant, whose help in preparing the manuscript for publication made all the difference.

The transliteration of Russian follows the modified Library of Congress system throughout the book, while customary English spellings are maintained for familiar terms, places and personal names.

Stephen Hutchings is professor of Russian studies at the University of Manchester and a fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. He has published six monographs and five edited volumes on various aspects of Russian literary, film and media studies, including Russian Modernism: The Transfiguration of the Everyday (CUP, 1997), Russian Literary Culture in the Camera Age: The Word as Image (Routledge 2004), Television and Culture in Putins Russia: Remote Control (Routledge, 2009; co-authored with Natalia Rulyova) and Nation, Ethnicity and Race on Russian Television: Mediation Post-Soviet Difference (Routledge 2015; co-authored with Vera Tolz). He has held seven prestigious research grants with the UKs Arts and Humanities Research Council since 2000. He was president of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies from 20102013 and is currently associate editor of the Russian Journal of Communication. ORCiD: Orcid.org/0000-0003-2086-3244

Jnis Juzefovis is a research fellow at the University of Tartus Institute of Social Studies, where he is currently working on a project examining the civic identity and transnational media practices of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic countries of Latvia and Estonia at times of geo-political uncertainty. He holds a PhD in media studies from the University of Westminster. He is the author of the book