Social Media Revolution in Russia

The rise of social media use has led to a convergence of different journalistic platforms in modern Russian reporting. The “old” and traditional print style news is mixing with the “new” social media and internet based tools of today.

http://www.slideshare.net/maliavale/overview-of-global-and-russian-social-media-impact

Social media has provided an irreplaceable outlet for Russian journalism and Russian reporting. “ Russian journalists are actively using profile-driven social networking sites like global Facebook and local Russian-language VKontakte and Odnoklassniki for professional needs. Micro-blog Twitter is also one of the popular sites, but most Russian media professionals prefer blog platforms (the most popular LiveJournal).”

Social media has provided a way for journalists to get news out faster, as well as reach out to the public and get their aid in fact checking or corroborating stories. However, the increased use of social media platforms in reporting sometimes also influences quality of the work that goes out to the public. However, in countries like Russia where the government tries so hard to censor what their people can see and what they can say, social media is the most effective tool out there. It empowers people, and gives voices to the millions who wouldn’t have otherwise been heard.

The Russian government uses social media as a “watchdog.” Just recently the Russian government enacted a law “imposing restrictions on users of social media has come into effect in Russia. It means bloggers with more than 3,000 daily readers must register with the mass media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform to the regulations that govern the country’s larger media outlets. Internet companies will also be required to allow Russian authorities access to users’ information.”  While the government cannot directly take away freedom of speech or violate freedom of the press amendments in their constitution, they have increasingly come up with alternative strategies to quell the press and their opinions.

Russian Journalists are now coming together to get stories out there in response to the government crackdown on journalism. For example, The Meduza Project.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/23/russian-journalists-meduza-project-latvia-kremlin-crackdown

“‘The news returns’ – that is the slogan for the Meduza Project, a new Russian-language independent media organization.” 

“Headed by Galina Timchenko, the former editor-in-chief of Russian news website Lenta.ru, Meduza is run by a team of around 20 journalists. They were among the nearly 70 Lenta.ru reporters who collectively resigned from their jobs in March following Timchenko’s unexpected removal from her post by the website’s owner and Vladimir Putin ally, the oligarch Alexander Mamut.”

The organization is fighting back in order to make their voices heard and they are doing it through cutting-edge social media techniques. More active and updated journalism available within seconds to all is what the industry is all about. With over 26,000 twitter followers already, the journalists have proven themselves to be resilient against the government.