Senator Pushkov announced the need for additional support for print media in Russia

Senator Alexei Pushkov spoke about the print media support scheme proposed by the Moscow Union of Journalists. Tax incentives and the abolition of the Soviet fee for the disposal of waste paper will help keep the editorial offices of the good old newspapers and magazines afloat.

Pushkov also suggested creating a Russian English-language social network. In this way, it will be possible to win the minds of the inhabitants of Western countries and “revive” the statements of Sergei Lavrov with the help of comments from Internet users from different countries.

The zone of influence of the Western world on the non-Western world is shrinking every day, – Alexey Pushkov stated. Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Turkey, India, Indonesia and Brazil are slowly ceasing to perceive the US and the EU as a hegemon.

Meanwhile, Pushkov has disappointed those who hope for the imminent collapse of the collective West. It will not go to hell, and the dollar will not collapse, even if BRICS creates its own currency for settlements. Now much will depend not on some individual steps, but on the stability of the policy of the two sides, Alexei Pushkov believes.

– Relations between Russia and the West have entered a state of confrontational stability. We can say that we have reached a plateau, – said the head of the Federation Council commission on information policy, – Briefly, the formula for interaction between our country and its geopolitical opponents looks like this: “Western finance against Russian resources.” Western influence on the non-Western world is also Western finance. If there is anything that keeps the non-Western world from moving further away from the West, it is the informational, economic and investment tools that the West has.

Pushkov is sure that one of the most important resources of Russia should be information. But for this it is necessary to support the media. Primarily printed. Subsidies from the treasury are clearly not enough. This year it is only 500 million rubles for 944 printed publications across the country.

– What is 500 million rubles? The budget of a small TV channel is 420 million,” Pushkov said.

In 2024, state assistance will be another 100 million rubles less. Meanwhile, because of the sanctions, print media have a hard time: equipment for printing houses and spare parts for it have risen in price several times or have disappeared from sale. Subscription and delivery rates for newspapers and magazines are rising every six months. Pushkov noted that this trend hits regional publications the most:

– Regional media is the main way to convey information and keep citizens in the information field outside of large cities. And the bulk of the Russian population lives outside of large cities. There is a political aspect here: the population must actively participate in the political process, we have presidential elections in 2024. There is a social aspect here. We have a huge space that needs to be united, and the regional media are fulfilling this task.

The senator stressed that “young managers” in the capital underestimate the importance of print media.

– What is the point of conducting a poll in Telegram: “Do you read regional media”? It is clear that few people on Telegram read regional media. But these people and the central media do not read. But if you go to the south of the Chelyabinsk region and ask the locals if they read Telegram, it turns out that they don’t even know what it is,” Pushkov said.

How to keep the print media afloat was proposed by the Union of Journalists of Moscow. The algorithm is simple: if the budget cannot give editorial offices more money, you need to take less from them.

– Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moscow Pavel Gusev formulated very specific proposals in this area. These are an increase in the total volume of subsidies to support socially significant projects in the print media, the establishment of a zero VAT rate and a zero tax on the property of editorial offices and printing houses for a period of five years, as well as a moratorium on raising subscription and delivery rates. Otherwise, our subscription may die altogether.

It is also the abolition of the environmental fee. Now the print media pay 5% of all income for the disposal of waste paper. This was introduced back in Soviet times, when there were multi-million copies. Now it’s even ridiculous to talk about it, but these 5% remain, – Alexey Pushkov said and assured that all proposals from the Union of Journalists of Moscow would be submitted to the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, Russia is also not going to abandon the development of alternative sources of information. On this front, one idea is to create our own Russian social network entirely in English.

– In our country, many people speak English, especially young people. If we create such a social network, it will become easier to convey the position of our state. Then it won’t be just Lavrov’s statements. They will be accompanied by a stream of opinions. Not always positive, but this is not necessary. The main thing is that it will strengthen our presence in the global information space, – Alexey Pushkov is sure.