Fearing For Their Lives, Russian Journalists Turning to Blogs

In Russia, where the media is mainly controlled by the state or business leaders, there isn't much room for journalists to have free and open debate. Fearing for their lives, many Russian journalists are now going online to vent their anger and speak out. Digital Journal -- Since 1991, three high-profile journalists in Russia have been murdered, leaving the rest of the media with the feeling that having an opinion can cost you your life. According news coming from Reuters, many journalists are going online so that they can run a personal online journal or blog and remain anonymous. "In the West, you don't need to look for some additional place where you can discuss politics, books, different events," blogger and sociologist Ekaterina Alyabyeva told Reuters. "Civil society is exactly where that happens. In Russia, that doesn't happen anywhere because our press, our media don't give their readers an opportunity to talk back." The Communist Party's stronghold over the media disintegrated with the end of the Soviet era, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to have been trying to limit the freedom of the press. Putin denies these allegations, saying he does not want to limit media freedom. "The Kremlin has tightened controls on the media, especially the main television stations, and this, combined with its domination of the political scene, has fueled Western concerns that Russia is entering a new period of authoritarian rule," Reuters journalist, Olesya Dmitracova, writes in her report. In an uneasy political climate, it's no surprise that Russians are going online. In fact, Russians are the now second-largest group of bloggers on livejournal.com, a U.S. based blogging site. According to Reuters, about 680,000 registered users write in Cyrillic and considered mostly Russian speakers. And unlike the more personal nature of blogs in North America, Russian blogs often involve thousands of bloggers who discuss and debate issues like politics. "Blogs are a new kind of journalism. It is journalism of opinions rather than journalism of facts," 25-year-old blogger Elizaveta Dobkina told Reuters. The problem is, the Internet -- the saving grace of true journalism in Russia -- is also the Achilles' Heel because technology allows "anonymous" people to be found. "It's very relaxing and very liberating because you feel like no one can find you," Dobkina said. "(But) I think it is absolutely clear that given the right technology ... anyone can read all posts," she said. And thus, the issue comes back full circle. Noting the trend of online democracy, some worry Russian officials will start using technology to identify those who argue against the ideas of the state, for example. And that may be true, as a formal Reuters query to Russia's secret police to ask if they can obtain info on Internet users went unanswered.