BBC Russian Service
Encyclopedia
The BBC Russian Service was part of the BBC World Service
's foreign language output, one of 33 languages it provided.
However during World War II there were sporadic broadcasts to the USSR in Russian only. Most of these broadcasts were after 1942.
These were mainly short news bulletins or announcements relating to UK Foreign Office policy in Russian
from 1943 onwards but often weeks or months apart.
In the cold war era the service broadcasts were severely jammed
. Despite this, it tried to bring to listeners in USSR information they were deprived of, including works of writers and dissidents who could not publish their work at home, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Jammers were finally turned off in late 80s, as perestroika
took hold.
The Russian Service had issues with AM and FM transmission in Moscow and St Petersburg in 2005-2006. It cleared formal obstacles such as lack of licences. It disrupted FM broadcasts again since November 2006.
The BBC Russian Service partnered with Bol'shoe Radio FM broadcaster in Moscow between April and August 2007. Daily broadcasts alternated between the Russian Service and Radio Moscow. On 17 August 2007 Bol'shoe Radio notified the BBC World Service that it planned to stop transmission of BBC programming in Russian as of that afternoon. BBC content was not aired as usual at 1700 (Moscow time); the station was ordered by its owner, the financial group Finam, to pull the shows or risk being taken off air altogether. The BBC planned to appeal against the decision. In its 2007 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that "the development of a partnership with the international arm of a Russian state broadcasting network puts the BBC World Service's reputation for editorial independence at risk".
Masha Karp, Martin Dewhirst, Victor Suvorov, Vladimir Bukovsky
, Oleg Gordievsky
criticized the BBC Russian service for giving less coverage to view points outside of those approved by the Russian government.
The criticism ignored the fact that Alexander Litvinenko’s last interview from his hospital bed was with BBC Russian and it had featured a full spectrum of views about his death.
An article in The Economist
suggested that the BBC's desire to stay with local transmitters in Russia may conflict with its neutrality. BBC World Service denied it and said the problems it faced in acquiring carriage on FM in Russia emanated from the growing impact its distinctive programmes were having with audiences rather than weakening the quality of its output. They said it was the awkward journalistic questions the BBC had asked that inspired the authorities to bring persistent pressure to bear upon its FM partners to drop its programmes until the threat of losing their licences altogether became too strong. In November 2008 the BBC World Service announced a far-reaching strategy rethink, seeing most of the Russian Service's standalone news bulletins shut and two blocks of current affairs programming widened. The strategy envisioned closure of longer, lighter feature programmes and aggregating some of their elements such as insights on British culture to a new weekend programme.
The news drew sharp criticism from British experts on Russia who argued that the BBC World Service weakened its editorial line under pressure from Kremlin and that it lost crucial links with British culture and political thought.
The BBC World Service responded that the changes were necessary to solidify radio output at peak audience times coupled with lack of FM frequencies throughout its target audience and restrictions imposed by the Russian Government.
BBC World Service said that far from dropping analytical and cultural programming, as claimed, the BBC Russian service was strengthening the provision of journalism about politics and culture, and giving it space within high-profile programmes seven days a week at times when most listeners were available. They also argued that their limited budget would be better spent on creating a better website – which is an area of growth in news consumption and which the Russian authorities had not yet attempted to censor or block.
They also argued that their limited budget would be better spent on creating a better website – which the Russian authorities had not yet attempted to censor or block.
On 21 April 2009 the BBC Russian Service relaunched their website in a new wider template that corresponded with other language services such as Portuguese, Spanish, Persian, Urdu and Vietnamese.
On 26 March 2011 the service changed to publishing and broadcasting entirely over internet.
This program includes:
This program includes:
and Anna Dementyeva
, Konstantin Eggert, Pavel Aksyonov, Oleg Antonenko
, Oleg Mikhailov, Rafael Saarkov or Mikhail Smirnov in Moscow.
This program includes:
This program includes:
Interviews with key cultural and other news makers, audience reaction, and regular slots such as ‘Ostorozhno, Lyudi’ (Осторожно люди!)
, Soviet Military Intelligence, in Yemen. Mr Eggert announced his resignation after over a decade at the BBC early in 2009, but has since re-appeared as a part time presenter on the BBC Russian Service morning show.
He is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (London) and member of the board of “Pro et Contra”, quarterly journal of Carnegie Endowment Moscow Center. He lectured on Russian affairs at the German Foreign Policy Association (Berlin), Wilton Park (UK) and Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
Konstantin Eggert is an honours graduate of the Moscow University Asian and African Studies College (history and Arabic language).
The service hired the following journalists,
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
's foreign language output, one of 33 languages it provided.
History
The BBC Russian Service began broadcasting on 26 March 1946.However during World War II there were sporadic broadcasts to the USSR in Russian only. Most of these broadcasts were after 1942.
These were mainly short news bulletins or announcements relating to UK Foreign Office policy in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
from 1943 onwards but often weeks or months apart.
In the cold war era the service broadcasts were severely jammed
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
. Despite this, it tried to bring to listeners in USSR information they were deprived of, including works of writers and dissidents who could not publish their work at home, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Jammers were finally turned off in late 80s, as perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
took hold.
Broadcasting
The BBC Russian Service broadcasted strategically throughout Russia and some former Soviet countries on short and medium-wave radio.The Russian Service had issues with AM and FM transmission in Moscow and St Petersburg in 2005-2006. It cleared formal obstacles such as lack of licences. It disrupted FM broadcasts again since November 2006.
The BBC Russian Service partnered with Bol'shoe Radio FM broadcaster in Moscow between April and August 2007. Daily broadcasts alternated between the Russian Service and Radio Moscow. On 17 August 2007 Bol'shoe Radio notified the BBC World Service that it planned to stop transmission of BBC programming in Russian as of that afternoon. BBC content was not aired as usual at 1700 (Moscow time); the station was ordered by its owner, the financial group Finam, to pull the shows or risk being taken off air altogether. The BBC planned to appeal against the decision. In its 2007 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that "the development of a partnership with the international arm of a Russian state broadcasting network puts the BBC World Service's reputation for editorial independence at risk".
Masha Karp, Martin Dewhirst, Victor Suvorov, Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky is a leading member of the dissident movement of the 1960s and 1970s, writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist....
, Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
criticized the BBC Russian service for giving less coverage to view points outside of those approved by the Russian government.
The criticism ignored the fact that Alexander Litvinenko’s last interview from his hospital bed was with BBC Russian and it had featured a full spectrum of views about his death.
An article in The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
suggested that the BBC's desire to stay with local transmitters in Russia may conflict with its neutrality. BBC World Service denied it and said the problems it faced in acquiring carriage on FM in Russia emanated from the growing impact its distinctive programmes were having with audiences rather than weakening the quality of its output. They said it was the awkward journalistic questions the BBC had asked that inspired the authorities to bring persistent pressure to bear upon its FM partners to drop its programmes until the threat of losing their licences altogether became too strong. In November 2008 the BBC World Service announced a far-reaching strategy rethink, seeing most of the Russian Service's standalone news bulletins shut and two blocks of current affairs programming widened. The strategy envisioned closure of longer, lighter feature programmes and aggregating some of their elements such as insights on British culture to a new weekend programme.
The news drew sharp criticism from British experts on Russia who argued that the BBC World Service weakened its editorial line under pressure from Kremlin and that it lost crucial links with British culture and political thought.
The BBC World Service responded that the changes were necessary to solidify radio output at peak audience times coupled with lack of FM frequencies throughout its target audience and restrictions imposed by the Russian Government.
BBC World Service said that far from dropping analytical and cultural programming, as claimed, the BBC Russian service was strengthening the provision of journalism about politics and culture, and giving it space within high-profile programmes seven days a week at times when most listeners were available. They also argued that their limited budget would be better spent on creating a better website – which is an area of growth in news consumption and which the Russian authorities had not yet attempted to censor or block.
They also argued that their limited budget would be better spent on creating a better website – which the Russian authorities had not yet attempted to censor or block.
On 21 April 2009 the BBC Russian Service relaunched their website in a new wider template that corresponded with other language services such as Portuguese, Spanish, Persian, Urdu and Vietnamese.
On 26 March 2011 the service changed to publishing and broadcasting entirely over internet.
BBC Morning
- Russian name: Утро на Би-би-си
- Broadcast: 0630–1000 (Moscow time)
- Genre: Three and a half-hour breakfast news show
- Presented by: Anna DementyevaAnna DementyevaAnna Yurievna Dementyeva born on the 28 December 1994 in Samara, Russia is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 European all-around and beam champion, and a world gold medalist with the team.- Junior career :...
, Mikhail Smirnov, Oleg AntonenkoOleg AntonenkoOleg Vladimirovich Antonenko is a Belarusian professional ice hockey left wing. He currently plays for Molot-Prikamye Perm of the Russian Major League....
, Oleg Mikhayilov and Rafael Saarkov. - Main studio: BBC Moscow bureau.
- Show website: Утро на Би-би-си
This program includes:
- Main news, Business, Press reviews, Phone-ins, Expert discussions, Weather forecasts
Ranniy Chas
- Russian name: Рaнний час
- Broadcast: 0500-0530 Monday – Friday (Moscow time)
- Genre: Half-hour breakfast news programme, focused on FSU
- Presented by: Mark Grigoryan, Rose Kudabayeva, Yulia Savchenko and Renata Tairbekova
- Main studio: BBC Moscow bureau.
- Show website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/radio/radio_rannychas
This program includes:
- Main global, FSU and Russian news, expert discussions and analysis
BBC Evening
- Russian name: Вечер на Би-би-си
- Broadcast: 1700–1900 Monday – Friday(Moscow time)
- Genre: Analytical news show
- Jointly Presented by: Sasha Baranov, Jana Litvinova, Dima Poltavsky, Leonid Louneev or Ilona Vinogradova in London
and Anna Dementyeva
Anna Dementyeva
Anna Yurievna Dementyeva born on the 28 December 1994 in Samara, Russia is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 European all-around and beam champion, and a world gold medalist with the team.- Junior career :...
, Konstantin Eggert, Pavel Aksyonov, Oleg Antonenko
Oleg Antonenko
Oleg Vladimirovich Antonenko is a Belarusian professional ice hockey left wing. He currently plays for Molot-Prikamye Perm of the Russian Major League....
, Oleg Mikhailov, Rafael Saarkov or Mikhail Smirnov in Moscow.
- Main studio: Bush HouseBush HouseBush House is a building between Aldwych and The Strand in London at the southern end of Kingsway. The BBC World Service occupies the Centre Block, North East and South East wings. The North West wing was formerly occupied by BBC Online until they relocated to BBC Media Village in 2005, with some...
, London and BBC Moscow bureau (double presentation). - Show website: Вечер на Би-би-си
This program includes:
- Main global and Russian news and analysis, business, audience reaction, expert discussions
BBSeva: News with a Human Face
- Russian name: "БибиСева": Новости с человеческим лицом
- Broadcast: 1900–2000 Monday-Friday (Moscow time)
- Genre: IInformal presenter-led news programme, with a focus on human stories and audience interaction as well as music and culture.
- Presented by: Seva Novgorodsev MBE.
- Main studio: Bush HouseBush HouseBush House is a building between Aldwych and The Strand in London at the southern end of Kingsway. The BBC World Service occupies the Centre Block, North East and South East wings. The North West wing was formerly occupied by BBC Online until they relocated to BBC Media Village in 2005, with some...
, London. - Show website: БибиСева
This program includes:
Interviews with key cultural and other news makers, audience reaction, and regular slots such as ‘Ostorozhno, Lyudi’ (Осторожно люди!)
Vam Slovo: Have Your Say
- Russian name: Вам слово
- Broadcast: 2000–2100 Monday-Friday (Moscow time)
- Genre: Interactive programme, inviting the audience to comment on the main bbcrussian.com forum of the day and contribute story ideas.
- Presented by: Zhenya Mineyeva, Sasha Baranov, Ilona Vinogradova, Jana Litvinova, Rose Kudabayeva, Leonid Louneev, Dmitry Poltavsky
- Main studio: Bush HouseBush HouseBush House is a building between Aldwych and The Strand in London at the southern end of Kingsway. The BBC World Service occupies the Centre Block, North East and South East wings. The North West wing was formerly occupied by BBC Online until they relocated to BBC Media Village in 2005, with some...
, London. - Show website: Вам слово
Pyatiy Etazh: 5th Floor
- Russian name: Пятый зтаж
- Broadcast: 2000–2130 Saturday-Sunday (Moscow time)
- Genre: Weekend programme with news and discussion of the main themes of the week, with a particular focus on culture and British themes.
- Presented by: Mikhail Smotryaev, and featuring regular presenter’s friends, and cultural commentators Zinovy Zinik and Alexander Kan
- Main studio: Bush HouseBush HouseBush House is a building between Aldwych and The Strand in London at the southern end of Kingsway. The BBC World Service occupies the Centre Block, North East and South East wings. The North West wing was formerly occupied by BBC Online until they relocated to BBC Media Village in 2005, with some...
, London. - Show website: Пятый зтаж
Staff
Earlier in 2008 Konstantin Eggert, the Moscow Bureau Editor of the BBC Russian Service, was made honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire with the assistance of the British Embassy in Moscow. Mr Eggert was hired by the BBC despite having served in GRUGRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
, Soviet Military Intelligence, in Yemen. Mr Eggert announced his resignation after over a decade at the BBC early in 2009, but has since re-appeared as a part time presenter on the BBC Russian Service morning show.
He is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (London) and member of the board of “Pro et Contra”, quarterly journal of Carnegie Endowment Moscow Center. He lectured on Russian affairs at the German Foreign Policy Association (Berlin), Wilton Park (UK) and Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
Konstantin Eggert is an honours graduate of the Moscow University Asian and African Studies College (history and Arabic language).
The service hired the following journalists,
- Andrei Ostalsky
- Pavel Aksyonov
- Pavel Fedenko
- Konstantin Rozhinov
- Alexander Zhuravlyov
- Oleg Antonenko
- Andrei Beketov
- Oleg Boldyrev
- Mikhail Denisov
- Mark Grigoryan
- Famil Ismailov
- Alik Kan
- Artem Krechetnikov
- Dmitri Poltavsky
- Yuri Maloveryan
- Yury Zhuravel
- Maria Grechaninova
- Yevgeniya Mineyeva
- Dmitry Shishkin
- Anastasia Uspenskaya
- Masha Vassilyeva
- Yan Leder