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Censorship of news coverage on the Hong Kong democracy protests in Mainland China
In September and October 2014 there were massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, but Mainland Chinese media presented a very restricted view of there events. Independent international...

By: solubleshark

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Censorship of news coverage on the Hong Kong democracy protests in Mainland China - Video

Government Project - Censorship
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By: iColbyV

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Government Project - Censorship - Video

#Gamergate - Big Media, Media Tips, #39;Rape #39; Censorship
Hopefully nobody will get spammed with invites this time. Ranting about various related subjects for a bit, then open to questions and abuse.

By: James Desborough

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#Gamergate - Big Media, Media Tips, 'Rape' & Censorship - Video

President Vladimir Putin signed a law today curbing foreign ownership in Russian media, shrugging off criticism that the Kremlin is undermining the independent press in a swipe at global publishers and broadcasters.

The law requires Russian media with foreign owners to reduce non-Russian ownership to 20 percent by the end of 2016 after amending constituent documents by February of that year. The Vedomosti daily, published jointly by the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, and Axel Springer SEs Forbes Russia are the biggest independent media outlets in the country.

Since becoming president in 2000, Putin has brought major television stations under state control, pushing opposition discourse toward the Internet. This year, as geopolitical tensions flared over the conflict in Ukraine, Putin has tightened control over the World Wide Web and media.

This is another step toward closing Russia, isolating its information space and removing elites from criticism, Nikolay Petrov, a political science professor at the Higher School of Economics School in Moscow, said by phone. Vedomosti and Forbes have been the two remaining strongholds that could afford criticism toward Putins elite and havent agreed to compromise with the Kremlin.

The law also threatens to squeeze owners of entertainment television in Russia, including operators CTC Media Inc. (CTCM) and Walt Disney Co. (DIS), cable TV channels such as Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) and publishers of glossy magazines, including Sanoma OYJ (SAA1V), Hearst Corp. and Conde Nast.

Communications Minister Nikolay Nikiforov met with executives from media with foreign shareholders last week and agreed to form a working group on how to comply with the new law.

Hearst Shkulev Media, which publishes Elle and Maxim magazines in Russia, will need to amend its shareholder structure to bring its editorial group in compliance with the new requirements, co-owner Viktor Shkulev said. Still, the company is seeking to keep Hearsts participation in other business areas, he said.

CTC Media may need to either delist shares in the U.S. or buy back shares to comply with the law, Vedomosti reported Sept. 26. The company said last week its studying options to defend its shareholders and comply with the legislation at the same time. The Russian unit of Discovery declined to comment last week. Disneys local office couldnt be reached for comment today.

The law was drafted sloppily, Petrov said, adding that glossy magazines and entertainment TV channels will probably be exempted. The Kremlin was aiming to tighten control not over them, but over socio-political media.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@bloomberg.net

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Russia Threatens Foreign Media Ownership With New Rules

CTC Media Inc. (CTCM) plunged to a five-year low after President Vladimir Putin enacted a law capping foreign ownership in Russian media companies at 20 percent by the end of 2016.

The shares, which only trade in the U.S., slumped 2.8 percent to $4.86 in New York yesterday. CTC was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2006 and is the only publicly traded Russian television company. Stockholm-based Modern Times Group AB (MTGB) is the biggest shareholder, with about a 39 percent stake, while 36 percent is held by various U.S. and European investors, the company said in a statement last month.

CTC tumbled after Putin signed legislation lowering the threshold for foreign ownership in media companies from 50 percent. The tighter restriction comes as Russia increases its control over communications in the country amid a standoff with the U.S. and its allies over the Ukraine war. Putin has called the Internet a creation of U.S. spy agencies, and the government earlier this year banned anonymous public access to the Web.

It seems the worst is yet to come, Sergey Vasin, an analyst at OAO Gazprombank, said by phone from Moscow yesterday. The new law is signed into effect while slowing economic growth is already resulting in less revenue from ad sales. There is just no reason for any optimism.

Russias $2 trillion economy will expand 0.3 percent this year, the worst performance since it shrank in 2009, according to the median forecast of 38 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Growth has been squelched by international sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine.

CTC Media said in a statement that it is considering options including a capital reorganization and divestments to comply with the lower foreign-ownership threshold.

The company might consider restricting shareholder voting exclusively to domestic investors while allowing foreign stakeholders to receive dividends and other financial benefits without being able to influence management, said Konstantin Belov, an analyst at UralSib Capital.

There is no easy option for CTC Media to comply with the law, Belov said by phone from Moscow.

CTC Media will develop a solution protecting all of our shareholders to the fullest extent, Yuliana Slashcheva, the companys chief executive officer, said by e-mail. We will inform the market appropriately as soon as decisions are taken.

The new law takes effect in 2016 and gives companies a year to comply.

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Russias CTC Media Drops as Putin Restricts Ownership