TV Rain, a youth-focused Russian TV station often critical of the Kremlin that was shut down by state authorities early in March, is continuing in a YouTube version.
Exiled Russian journalists Ekaterina Kotrikadze and Tikhon Dzyadko are behind the new venture. They spoke to CNN today on host Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” show to detail their mission.
“You now face 10 years in prison if you call this war what it is, a war…if you interview President Zelenskyy or do anything like that,” Kotrikadze told Stelter.
When the independent news outlet shut down, at the end of the night’s report, the staff gathered around the news desk. The anchors were overhead saying “no war,” as everyone walked off together. The broadcast image of the empty studio was replaced by the TV station’s logo and a message asking for donations before the telecast cut to old footage from a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake.
The Swan Lake bit was an inspired, highly-evocative gesture, especially for Russians who could recall the coup of August 1991, when, unable to actually report the news, stations simply played footage of the ballet for three days nonstop.
Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor, banned TV Rain, accusing it of inciting protests and disrupting the public, according to the New York Times.
TV Rain was excised from cable bundles in 2014. The channel had persevered online and on YouTube as an independent voice often critical of the Kremlin.
TV Rain, Russian Indie News Outlet For Youth, Continues Its Struggle On YouTube
TV Rain, a youth-focused Russian TV station often critical of the Kremlin that was shut down by state authorities early in March, is continuing in a YouTube version.
Exiled Russian journalists Ekaterina Kotrikadze and Tikhon Dzyadko are behind the new venture. They spoke to CNN today on host Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” show to detail their mission.
“You now face 10 years in prison if you call this war what it is, a war…if you interview President Zelenskyy or do anything like that,” Kotrikadze told Stelter.
When the independent news outlet shut down, at the end of the night’s report, the staff gathered around the news desk. The anchors were overhead saying “no war,” as everyone walked off together. The broadcast image of the empty studio was replaced by the TV station’s logo and a message asking for donations before the telecast cut to old footage from a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake.
The Swan Lake bit was an inspired, highly-evocative gesture, especially for Russians who could recall the coup of August 1991, when, unable to actually report the news, stations simply played footage of the ballet for three days nonstop.
Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor, banned TV Rain, accusing it of inciting protests and disrupting the public, according to the New York Times.
TV Rain was excised from cable bundles in 2014. The channel had persevered online and on YouTube as an independent voice often critical of the Kremlin.
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