Sergey Dorenko
Encyclopedia
Sergey Leonidovich Dorenko ' onMouseout='HidePop("21798")' href="/topics/Kerch">Kerch
, Crimea
, Soviet Union
) is a Russian TV and radio journalist, famous for hosting a controversial weekly news commentary program in 1999-2000.
In 1982 Dorenko graduated from People's Friendship University of Russia in Moscow
, and served as a Portuguese
-Russian
translator in Angola
. In June 1984 he was drafted to the military
, but was discharged in January 1985 due to health problems.
In April 1985 Dorenko became an employee of Gosteleradio (State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the only TV and radio broadcaster in the Soviet Union).
Between 1996 and 1999 he hosted Vremya, a news commentary program on ORT
. In September 1999 Dorenko hosted the influential weekly "Sergey Dorenko Show" on Saturdays at 9pm, and in November 1999 became a Deputy Director General of ORT. He was critical of Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov
, Yevgeny Primakov
and their party Fatherland-All Russia, who were major opponents of Vladimir Putin
and the pro-Putin party Unity during the 1999 State Duma
electoral campaign
. In his program collages of Luzhkov in women's dress were shown.
In August 2000, Dorenko's program criticized the government handling of the submarine Kursk explosion
. Soon afterwards, his program was cancelled, and Dorenko alleged that this was a result of pressure from the Kremlin. According to BBC News, Dorenko told Echo of Moscow
radio at the time that "on 29th August the president proposed that I join his team, as he put it, and stay at Channel 1 to be his favourite and best-loved journalist."
"I said to him: I am very sorry, I can and very much would like to work at Channel 1 but as part of the team of the viewers. [President Putin] just said in reply: I see that you have not yet made up your mind. I said: On the contrary, I have made up my mind, in favour of the viewers."
The director of Network ORT, Konstantin Ernst, insisted that contrary to Dorenko's allegations, the government had not been involved in the change, and that he made the decision to cancel the show because Dorenko had refused to stop discussing the government's plan to nationalize media magnate Boris Berezovsky's 49% stake in the network. Following the controversy, Dorenko became a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin's rule and has not worked further on Russian television. He has, however, hosted a number of radio programs for Echo of Moscow.
On September 30, 2003, in Stavropol Krai
, Dorenko joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
. Two years later, Dorenko published 2008, a work of political fiction about an upcoming revolution in Russia, featuring President Vladimir Putin
and Igor Sechin
, his close ally.
On May 23, 2007, Sergey Dorenko provided The Associated Press
and The Wall Street Journal
with the full video tape of an interview he recorded in April 1998 with Alexander Litvinenko
and fellow FSB employees, where the agents appeared to confess that their bosses had ordered them to kill, kidnap or frame prominent Russian politicians and businesspeople, and thus made it publicly available in full for the first time. Only some excerpts of the video had been shown in 1998.
Kerch
Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) is a Russian TV and radio journalist, famous for hosting a controversial weekly news commentary program in 1999-2000.
In 1982 Dorenko graduated from People's Friendship University of Russia in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and served as a Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
-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...
translator in Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
. In June 1984 he was drafted to the military
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
, but was discharged in January 1985 due to health problems.
In April 1985 Dorenko became an employee of Gosteleradio (State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the only TV and radio broadcaster in the Soviet Union).
Between 1996 and 1999 he hosted Vremya, a news commentary program on ORT
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...
. In September 1999 Dorenko hosted the influential weekly "Sergey Dorenko Show" on Saturdays at 9pm, and in November 1999 became a Deputy Director General of ORT. He was critical of Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov
Yuriy Luzhkov
Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov is a Russian politician who was the Mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010. He was also vice-chairman and one of the founders of the ruling United Russia party....
, Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov is a Russian politician and diplomat. During his long career, he served as the Russian Foreign Minister, Prime Minister of Russia, Speaker of the Soviet of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and chief of intelligence service...
and their party Fatherland-All Russia, who were major opponents of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
and the pro-Putin party Unity during the 1999 State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
electoral campaign
Russian legislative election, 1999
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 19 December 1999. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma , the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia...
. In his program collages of Luzhkov in women's dress were shown.
In August 2000, Dorenko's program criticized the government handling of the submarine Kursk explosion
Russian submarine K-141 Kursk
K-141 Kursk was an Oscar-II class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of the Russian Navy, lost with all hands when it sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000...
. Soon afterwards, his program was cancelled, and Dorenko alleged that this was a result of pressure from the Kremlin. According to BBC News, Dorenko told Echo of Moscow
Echo of Moscow
Echo of Moscow is a Russian radio station based in Moscow, broadcasting in many Russian cities, in some of the former-Soviet republics , and via the Internet, which some observers describe as "the last bastion of free media in Russia"...
radio at the time that "on 29th August the president proposed that I join his team, as he put it, and stay at Channel 1 to be his favourite and best-loved journalist."
"I said to him: I am very sorry, I can and very much would like to work at Channel 1 but as part of the team of the viewers. [President Putin] just said in reply: I see that you have not yet made up your mind. I said: On the contrary, I have made up my mind, in favour of the viewers."
The director of Network ORT, Konstantin Ernst, insisted that contrary to Dorenko's allegations, the government had not been involved in the change, and that he made the decision to cancel the show because Dorenko had refused to stop discussing the government's plan to nationalize media magnate Boris Berezovsky's 49% stake in the network. Following the controversy, Dorenko became a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin's rule and has not worked further on Russian television. He has, however, hosted a number of radio programs for Echo of Moscow.
On September 30, 2003, in Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Stavropol. Population: -Geography:Stavropol Krai encompasses the central part of the Fore-Caucasus and most of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major...
, Dorenko joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a Russian political party. It is the second major political party in the Russian Federation.-History:...
. Two years later, Dorenko published 2008, a work of political fiction about an upcoming revolution in Russia, featuring President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
and Igor Sechin
Igor Sechin
Igor Ivanovich Sechin is a Russian official, considered a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Sechin is often described as one of Putin's most conservative counselors and the leader of the Kremlin's Siloviki faction, a statist lobby gathering former security services agents...
, his close ally.
On May 23, 2007, Sergey Dorenko provided The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
with the full video tape of an interview he recorded in April 1998 with Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
and fellow FSB employees, where the agents appeared to confess that their bosses had ordered them to kill, kidnap or frame prominent Russian politicians and businesspeople, and thus made it publicly available in full for the first time. Only some excerpts of the video had been shown in 1998.
See also
- Artyom BorovikArtyom BorovikArtyom Genrikhovich Borovik was a prominent Russian journalist and media magnate. He was the son of a Soviet journalist, Genrikh Borovik, who worked for many years as a foreign correspondent in the U.S.-Journalism:...
- Evgeny DodolevEvgeny DodolevYevgeniy Yuriyevich Dodolyev , is a Soviet and Russian journalist and publisher.-TV Years:...
- Marina LeskoMarina LeskoMarina Lesko , also known as M.Lesko is a Russian journalist, author, and cultural commentator.-Career:Lesko started her career at the Novy Vzglyad in 1992. She later left and started working at the Travel + Leisure . She ran that magazine for a while...
- Vladislav ListyevVladislav Listyev-External links:* - IFEX*...
- Alexander NevzorovAlexander NevzorovAlexander Glebovich Nevzorov is a former Russian and Soviet TV journalist, a film director and a former member of the Russian parliament. He is the founder of the horsemanship school, Nevzorov Haute Ecole.- Biography :...