Newspapers cannot offer context or background information on candidates, as any word can be considered advocacy or deception.

Mario Canseco

Last month, several Russian journalists got together to create the Petersburg Liniya newspaper. They left the front page of the first issue blank, under the banner headline "All About the Gubernatorial Candidates." Inside, reporters reviewed a contest in the fictitious City X, using invented names and artificial descriptions.

The group was protesting against the country's new electoral law, presented by head of state Vladimir Putin in time for the Sept. 21 local contest in St. Petersburg. Journalists and opposition lawmakers are fuming over the new regulations for campaigns and coverage. Any background information on a particular candidate can be considered as either advocacy or deception. The mere mention of a politician's marital status can be seen as influential, either positively or negatively.

Context is also a controversial topic in the new legislation. Any facts that can help the public understand a candidate's stance should be stricken from articles. A nominee's previous work experience or record can determine a voter's decision, so reporters must avoid including such tidbits in their stories.

The public usually takes many issues into account before casting a ballot. Putin's new law not only impedes the very essence of the journalistic profession, but also leaves the electorate in the dark over policies and ideas.

The rules are so broad that a simple list of proposals can be considered an invasion of privacy. Indeed, past contests in Russia have been affected by tabloid-type reports—Boris Yeltsin's ominous dancing moves may come to mind—but many believe Putin's new conditions are a disservice to democracy.

Another issue covered by the law is the possible prohibition on forecasting results during the campaign. The ban would effectively render the work of Russia's fine public opinion institutes obsolete, at a time when they are most needed not only by the electorate, but also by strategists on all political fronts.

Last but not least is a quixotic promise of equal media coverage for every party. With 44 registered political organizations nominating candidates for the Dec. 7 State Duma election, television networks might be forced to become 24-hour providers of political advertisements, if the rules are to be followed scrupulously.

The new regulations also envision punishment, allowing the government to shut down any particular media outlet after two warnings. As far as how politicians should campaign, government officials are strictly forbidden from promoting parties or candidates through their posts.

Curiously enough, the Russian president might have been the first person to violate the law. Putin openly supported the gubernatorial campaign of Valentina Matvienko in St. Petersburg during a televised speech last week. The two state-run channels that carried his appearance are far from being warned, and Matvienko's rivals have already demanded equal time.

Putin has effectively rebounded from a low approval rating after the botched rescue at a Moscow theater last year. The current president has consistently manhandled his rivals in voting intention polls, lingering around 50 per cent for most of this year. His closest prospective foe, communist Yennady Zyuganov, has failed to break 20 per cent. Putin will seek re-election in March 2004.

The colorless protest by Petersburg Liniya asserts the frustration of reporters, forced to the impossible task of conveying a view of the campaign without facts or figures. Leaving a blank gently exemplifies the extent of the law. Critics have also pleaded their case through the Constitution's Article 29. The right to freedom of speech in the country's foremost body of law supposedly prevails over any resolution passed by the Duma.

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