WILLIAM DUNKERLEY holds the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. He owns a media consulting firm in New Britain and is an expert on Russian media. He has done extensive work with the media in Russia and six other eastern European countries and also has lectured and written at length about the Russian media.
Q: In your work as a media consultant in Russia and other former Soviet-bloc countries, what are some of the prime differences you've witnessed there compared with the United States?
A: The media in virtually all the former communist countries have been going through a transition. During the communist era the media were owned or controlled by the party or government and served as instruments of them and so it's been quite a transition to go from that situation to one where media companies aspire to achieve independence and profitability
The ones that have been quick to join NATO and the European Union seem to have a leg up. Some of them didn't function under communism for as long a period of time as did Russia. Russia's transition has been rougher.
Q: In a report you wrote, you indicated that one impediment to true press freedom in Russia was that too much of the media was controlled by too few individuals. In the United States, more and more media are controlled by fewer large corporations. Do you see this jeopardizing true press freedom in the United States?
A: The consolidation of media ownership in the United States has in some respects narrowed the diversity of choices, but it certainly isn't as narrow as what it is in Russia.
To illustrate, Russian newspapers generally have price lists for what they would sell a news story for. If you went to a newspaper and said you'd like a really nice story written about your company, there's a price for that. You could also buy an unfavorable story about a competitor. It's an entrenched system.
Q: According to statistics from the U.S.-Russian Business Council, Russia now has the world's 10th largest economy. What role do you see the Russian media playing in expanding Russia's place in the world economy?
A: There's been a boom in Russia's advertising market. It is regarded as one of the fastest growing advertising markets in the world. The latest figures place Russian annual advertising spending at around $4 billion, up 24 percent from the previous year. In the U.S., advertising spending is a bit over $150 billion, with a relatively flat growth curve.
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