INDEPENDENT BALTIC PAPER STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Keywords: UFO SPECIAL COLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005516671
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: January 31, 2011
• Case Number: F-2010-00651
• Publication Date: November 6, 1991

C00174751
Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1991
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Status: [STAT]
Document Date: 06 Nov 91 Category: [CAT]
Report Type: JPRS Report Report Date:
Report Number: JPRS-UPA-91-046 UDC Number:
Page 1
Author(s): LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent Tatyana Fast:
How We Were Independent: From One Newspaper's
Experience"]
Headline: Independent Baltic Paper Struggles To Survive
Source Line: 924B0081A Moscow LITERATURNAYA GAZETA in Russian No 44,
6 Nov 91 p 7
Subslug: [Article by LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent
Tatyana Fast: " How We Were Independent: From One
Newspaper's Experience"]
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1. [Article by LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent Tatyana
Past: " How We Were Independent: From One Newspaper's Experience-]
2. [Text] Riga-The end of party power over the press has created
illusions: of the freedom of the press among the public, and of the
press' independence among journalists. Riding the wave of glasnost,
the papers-both newly established and those which had ceased to be
some organizations' organs-one after another were proclaiming
themselves independent. Few journalists in these years have been able
to resist the temptation to take an opportunity to publish their own
independent newspaper. We, several Riga journalists, were not able to
resist the temptation, either. Disagreements between the people in
the Baltic republics were on the rise,. and so was the conflict
between the central and local press.''Against this background, the
absence of an all-Baltic regional newspaper seemed an omission. Thus,
our NEZAVISIMAYA BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA was born. A sponsor was
available, too-the Baltia Association of Independent
Entrepreneurs-who was willing to support the newspaper financially.
The association incorporated several cooperative firms and banks,
counted business volume in millions, and had hard currency accounts.
3. The desire of the new class to support the newspaper and, in case
of success, have a nice calling card in the West and in the East
seemed understandable. The emerging business needed information and
communication channels. Therefore, we were not surprised by the
proposal: "Make a good newspaper. Money is no object." An agreement
of noninterference in editorial creative life sealed our aim at
independence.
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UNCLASSIFIED Approved for Release '/n
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4. Still, what is it-an independent newspaper? Not state-owned? Not
party-affiliated? We felt proud that none of us belonged to any party
or was part of any warring fronts. But can one make a newspaper on
this? Then what is it made of? Of looking at the same event from
different points of view? Of praising something at some point, and
then criticizing it at another? Or perhaps, one should do without any
opinions and build a newspaper on facts alone-let the reader figure
out what is what? Recipes were offered and rejected, while the
publication started.
5. Our very first issue was not to the liking of the functionaries
in the new government-we had written about their predilection for
ostentatious receptions. The second issue brought us a threat of a
lawsuit from the CPL [Communist Party of Latvia] Central Committee.
After we criticized Rubiks, former first secretary of the CPL Central
Committee, the newspaper of the republic communists SOVETSKAYA LATVIA
warned: "Beware the independents!" The reader was sending puzzled
letters: Who are you with? Define your stand! The issue of
independent press was also an issue for the reader who was used to
the fact that a newspaper defends either the right or the left. Our
reader has a long-standing conception that a newspaper must support
some clearly defined positions.
6. We did not agree with this. We published letters from readers,
explained, and quoted our opponents in the belief that this was also
a sign of independence. Groping blindly in the situation of acute
political confrontation of parties and movements, we were attempting
to create the concept of an independent newspaper. We were rejoicing
every time we were mentioned on Svoboda and BBC and in democratic
Moscow newspapers.
7. Of course, we were not alone even on the Baltic press market.
ATMODA, born under the NFL [National Front of Latvia] wing, was
criticizing the NFL leaders. Lithuanian ATGIMINAS slipped out from
under the Sajudis guardianship. Lithuanian RESPUBLIKA was bravely
battling old and new authorities. The times were demanding
publications of a new type, serving the truth rather than group
interests. In this sense, we were trying to be independent.
8. Can one, though, remain independent towards good and evil?
Towards official corruption? Towards OMON [Special Missions Militia
Detachments] excesses? Towards the CPSU and KGB provocations?
9. We were writing about tanks crushing the democratic movement in
Vilnius and Riga. About Baltic communist parties that were fooling
the workers and were using automatic rifles to fight their own
people. Evicted out of the House of the Press by OMON, we put
together a homemade January issue almost manually and were giving it
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away free at the barricades. It was then that we were suddenly jerked
back by the sponsors: "Do not get into politics!" A little later,
we heard something even more harsh: "Change your position!"
10. We replied: You are independent entrepreneurs; we are an
independent publication. The agreement between us provided for each
of us to maintain our sovereignty. When we brought this up, we got a
sobering reminder: Those who pay are the ones who can afford to have
an opinion. A little later, an article written by our partners
appeared in the local press under the tale-telling title: "A
Sponsor's Wish Is the Law." We were pointedly being shown our place.
11. We were being summoned to conferences and... taught how to
write. Just like it had been done in the old times at party meetings.
Even the terminology turned out to be similar: "You are not holding
the line," "You are helping their hand...''. We suddenly remembered
the party censors, who usually did their job quietly, one can even
say, in a delicate manner. If they removed materials from the issue,
they tried, as a rule, to find a good reason: The censors cared About
their reputation. The new masters were acting openly and
unceremoniously. Their reputation was protected by money-in millions.
Actually, not just money. When we, having gotten tired of squabbling,
declared that we want to break the relationship and claimed our legal
rights to the newspaper, the editorial offices were visited by...
four Schwarzeneggers. Flexing their biceps and other muscles, the
Schwarzeneggers explained that it was in our interests not to start a
fight for the newspaper. The text ran more or less this way:
"Remember! The newspaper has been and will be ours. We can prove it
to you by any means at our disposal."
12. On 1 June 1991, we published the last issue of NEZAVISIMAYA
BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA. The collective unanimously decided to break the
contract relationship with the association.
13. The calamity made us sit down and do our own calculations. Are
we really unable to survive without millionaires, we thought. Others
somehow manage... If worse comes to worst, we will tighten our belts
in the beginning. The results of the calculations left us
horrified... The price of independence came to this (the data used
is for Latvia). Paper costs 7,000 to 14,000 rubles [R) a ton at the
commodity exchange (to produce a weekly, for instance, one needs 22
tons a month). The printing house charges 17 to 25 percent of the
print run's list price. The Ministry of Communications-2.5 kopeks per
copy for transportation. The Main Administration for the Distribution
of Printed Materials of the USSR Ministry of Communications-20 to 25
percent of the list price of the retail part of the print run. The
cost of computers: if we want our own, it costs R300,000-400,000; if
we lease-R3,000-4,000 for typesetting and layout of one issue. If you
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want the issue to be on schedule and reach the newsstands on a
certain day, add another couple of thousand in cash (for each issue)
for bribes. The result: To publish the newspaper in at least 100,000
copies, we need half a million as a minimum. To make the ends meet,
we would have to either hike up the price per copy, or to have a
million-copy print runs. In the current- quite saturated-newspaper
market either option is unrealistic. One can, of course, hope for
advertising revenue, but this is also a double-edged sword:
Advertisers prefer to pay higher rates but place their ads in
newspapers with larger circulation. No matter how we look, it seems
that independence is the province of the rich.
14. But how do colleagues from other publications exist? It turned
out that since ATGIMINAS had separated from the Sajudis, it became
impossible for it to maintain the staff and to pay authors' fees.
There are now only three staff members. SOGLASIYE (also formerly a
Sajudis newspaper) vent bankrupt and closed. We heard of one Moscow
weekly that apparently survived thanks only to the editor's former
profession in construction business. Another one apparently runs a
successful business selling KamAZ trucks. The Riga political
newspaper BALTIYSKOYE VREMYA stays afloat by publishing a
pornographic supplement YESHCHE; SM-SEGODNYA (previously SOVETSKAYA
MOLODEZH) publishes several commercial supplements, each
"contributing" something to the kitty. So, if you want to publish a
newspaper, it looks like you either have to sell something, or sell
yourself.
15. Meanwhile, there were prospective buyers for our newspaper, too.
Among those who showed interest were- strange as it may seem-the CPL
Central Committee (telephone call): "We hear you have some money
problems. How much do you need?"; the military (they offered to
share their office space); some people engaged in pump manufacturing
and in reselling imported shoes. We got offers-through
intermediaries-from cooperatives in the Crimea, one bank in the
Transcaucasus, and then simultaneously several firms in Moscow. Some
were interested in an opportunity to establish themselves in the
Baltic market; others-to invest rubles where tomorrow there may be
hard currency; still others-to make politics through someone else's
efforts. Almost all promised millions. Alas, nobody was interested in
the newspaper as such, let alone an independent one. There was a
specific price tag attached to the millions-the right to the
newspaper. We did not find common language with any of them.
16. Nevertheless, we survived... After three months of stoppage,
.desperation, and broken illusions, we took a small loan in the bank
and started with commercial supplements. For several months, nobody
was paid a salary- all income went to buy paper for the future
newspaper. At the same time, we were looking for new authors.
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17. 30 September was the birthday of BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA. In having
to obtain a new license, we lost the word "independent," but we did
retain this independence in substance. True, this independence does
not have much of a material support. In our calculations, the
remaining resources will last us until the new year.
18. Actually, many newspapers have found themselves in a shaky
situation today. It appears that only those backed up by state
structures (soviets, ministries, mayoralties) or financed by big
private capital will be able to survive. It is not surprising that in
this situation the press is being bought up by mafiosi groups. Some
do it to launder the party money or income from shadow economy
dealings; others want to gain power by manipulating the public
opinion. Some will say: This is what a market economy is; this
situation is new for the Soviet press but not for the world press.
There is a difference, however. In democratic countries, the state
takes upon itself the care of independent press. Any society
interested in its development must have an interest in opposition.
Independent press is the opposition; its presence is an indicator of
the society's health. If this press disappears, so will the health.
19. I do not know whether it was this or some other reason that
moved the prime minister of the Latvian Republic Ivar Godmanis to
extend a helping hand to the press. Almost all republic newspapers
are now included in state orders for paper. The government-was able
to reach an agreement on deliveries of paper from Russia. So far,
until the new year. What will happen after that-nobody knows.
20. ...A few days ago we saw the NEZAVISIMAYA BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA-no
longer ours-on Riga newsstands. The new editorial staff does not
delve into politics. They write about UFO's, rational nutrition, and
sex. The cover shows a temporary address and the editor's name. Alas,
this temporary newspaper has more chances to survive than we do. It
will be supported even if the reader loses interest in the tabloid
mishmash.