 C00174751
 Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1991
 Classification:   UNCLASSIFIED       Status:        [STAT]
 Document Date:    06 Nov 91          Category:      [CAT]
 Report Type:      JPRS Report        Report Date:
 Report Number:    JPRS-UPA-91-046    UDC Number:
 Page   1
 Author(s):   LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent Tatyana Fast:
 How We Were Independent: From One Newspaper's
 Experience"]
 Headline:  Independent Baltic Paper Struggles To Survive
 Source Line:  924B0081A Moscow LITERATURNAYA GAZETA in Russian No 44,
 6 Nov 91 p 7
 Subslug:   [Article by LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent
 Tatyana Fast:   "  How We Were Independent: From One
 Newspaper's Experience"]
 FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
 1.  [Article by LITERATURNAYA GAZETA staff correspondent Tatyana
 Past: " How We Were Independent: From One Newspaper's Experience-]
 2.  [Text] Riga-The end of party power over the press has created
 illusions: of the freedom of the press among the public, and of the
 press' independence among journalists. Riding the wave of glasnost,
 the papers-both newly established and those which had ceased to be
 some organizations' organs-one after another were proclaiming
 themselves independent. Few journalists in these years have been able
 to resist the temptation to take an opportunity to publish their own
 independent newspaper. We, several Riga journalists, were not able to
 resist the temptation, either. Disagreements between the people in
 the Baltic republics were on the rise,. and so was the conflict
 between the central and local press.''Against this background, the
 absence of an all-Baltic regional newspaper seemed an omission. Thus,
 our NEZAVISIMAYA BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA was born. A sponsor was
 available, too-the Baltia Association of Independent
 Entrepreneurs-who was willing to support the newspaper financially.
 The association incorporated several cooperative firms and banks,
 counted business volume in millions, and had hard currency accounts.
 3.  The desire of the new class to support the newspaper and, in case
 of success, have a nice calling card in the West and in the East
 seemed understandable. The emerging business needed information and
 communication channels.  Therefore, we were not surprised by the
 proposal: "Make a good newspaper. Money is no object." An agreement
 of noninterference in editorial creative life sealed our aim at
 independence.
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 4.  Still, what is it-an independent newspaper? Not state-owned? Not
 party-affiliated? We felt proud that none of us belonged to any party
 or was part of any warring fronts. But can one make a newspaper on
 this? Then what is it made of? Of looking at the same event from
 different points of view? Of praising something at some point, and
 then criticizing it at another? Or perhaps, one should do without any
 opinions and build a newspaper on facts alone-let the reader figure
 out what is what?  Recipes were offered and rejected, while the
 publication started.
 5. Our very first issue was not to the liking of the functionaries
 in the new government-we had written about their predilection for
 ostentatious receptions. The second issue brought us a threat of a
 lawsuit from the CPL [Communist Party of Latvia] Central Committee.
 After we criticized Rubiks, former first secretary of the CPL Central
 Committee, the newspaper of the republic communists SOVETSKAYA LATVIA
 warned: "Beware the independents!" The reader was sending puzzled
 letters: Who are you with? Define your stand! The issue of
 independent press was also an issue for the reader who was used to
 the fact that a newspaper defends either the right or the left. Our
 reader has a long-standing conception that a newspaper must support
 some clearly defined positions.
 6.  We did not agree with this. We published letters from readers,
 explained, and quoted our opponents in the belief that this was also
 a sign of independence. Groping blindly in the situation of acute
 political confrontation of parties and movements, we were attempting
 to create the concept of an independent newspaper. We were rejoicing
 every time we were mentioned on Svoboda and BBC and in democratic
 Moscow newspapers.
 7.  Of course, we were not alone even on the Baltic press market.
 ATMODA, born under the NFL [National Front of Latvia] wing, was
 criticizing the NFL leaders. Lithuanian ATGIMINAS slipped out from
 under the Sajudis guardianship. Lithuanian RESPUBLIKA was bravely
 battling old and new authorities. The times were demanding
 publications of a new type, serving the truth rather than group
 interests. In this sense, we were trying to be independent.
 8.  Can one, though, remain independent towards good and evil?
 Towards official corruption? Towards OMON [Special Missions Militia
 Detachments] excesses?  Towards the CPSU and KGB provocations?
 9.  We were writing about tanks crushing the democratic movement in
 Vilnius and Riga. About Baltic communist parties that were fooling
 the workers and were using automatic rifles to fight their own
 people. Evicted out of the House of the Press by OMON, we put
 together a homemade January issue almost manually and were giving it
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 Document 15 of 17                                          Page   3
 away free at the barricades. It was then that we were suddenly jerked
 back by the sponsors: "Do not get into politics!" A little later,
 we heard something even more harsh: "Change your position!"
 10.  We replied: You are independent entrepreneurs; we are an
 independent publication. The agreement between us provided for each
 of us to maintain our sovereignty.  When we brought this up, we got a
 sobering reminder: Those who pay are the ones who can afford to have
 an opinion. A little later, an article written by our partners
 appeared in the local press under the tale-telling title: "A
 Sponsor's Wish Is the Law." We were pointedly being shown our place.
 11.  We were being summoned to conferences and... taught how to
 write. Just like it had been done in the old times at party meetings.
 Even the terminology turned out to be similar: "You are not holding
 the line," "You are helping their hand...''. We suddenly remembered
 the party censors, who usually did their job quietly, one can even
 say, in a delicate manner. If they removed materials from the issue,
 they tried, as a rule, to find a good reason: The censors cared About
 their reputation. The new masters were acting openly and
 unceremoniously. Their reputation was protected by money-in millions.
 Actually, not just money. When we, having gotten tired of squabbling,
 declared that we want to break the relationship and claimed our legal
 rights to the newspaper, the editorial offices were visited by...
 four Schwarzeneggers. Flexing their biceps and other muscles, the
 Schwarzeneggers explained that it was in our interests not to start a
 fight for the newspaper. The text ran more or less this way:
 "Remember! The newspaper has been and will be ours.  We can prove it
 to you by any means at our disposal."
 12.  On 1 June 1991, we published the last issue of NEZAVISIMAYA
 BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA. The collective unanimously decided to break the
 contract relationship with the association.
 13.  The calamity made us sit down and do our own calculations. Are
 we really unable to survive without millionaires, we thought. Others
 somehow manage... If worse comes to worst, we will tighten our belts
 in the beginning. The results of the calculations left us
 horrified...  The price of independence came to this (the data used
 is for Latvia). Paper costs 7,000 to 14,000 rubles [R) a ton at the
 commodity exchange (to produce a weekly, for instance, one needs 22
 tons a month). The printing house charges 17 to 25 percent of the
 print run's list price. The Ministry of Communications-2.5 kopeks per
 copy for transportation. The Main Administration for the Distribution
 of Printed Materials of the USSR Ministry of Communications-20 to 25
 percent of the list price of the retail part of the print run. The
 cost of computers: if we want our own, it costs R300,000-400,000; if
 we lease-R3,000-4,000 for typesetting and layout of one issue. If you
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 want the issue to be on schedule and reach the newsstands on a
 certain day, add another couple of thousand in cash (for each issue)
 for bribes. The result: To publish the newspaper in at least 100,000
 copies, we need half a million as a minimum. To make the ends meet,
 we would have to either hike up the price per copy, or to have a
 million-copy print runs. In the current- quite saturated-newspaper
 market either option is unrealistic. One can, of course, hope for
 advertising revenue, but this is also a double-edged sword:
 Advertisers prefer to pay higher rates but place their ads in
 newspapers with larger circulation. No matter how we look, it seems
 that independence is the province of the rich.
 14.  But how do colleagues from other publications exist? It turned
 out that since ATGIMINAS had separated from the Sajudis, it became
 impossible for it to maintain the staff and to pay authors' fees.
 There are now only three staff members. SOGLASIYE (also formerly a
 Sajudis newspaper) vent bankrupt and closed. We heard of one Moscow
 weekly that apparently survived thanks only to the editor's former
 profession in construction business.  Another one apparently runs a
 successful business selling KamAZ trucks. The Riga political
 newspaper BALTIYSKOYE VREMYA stays afloat by publishing a
 pornographic supplement YESHCHE; SM-SEGODNYA (previously SOVETSKAYA
 MOLODEZH) publishes several commercial supplements, each
 "contributing" something to the kitty. So, if you want to publish a
 newspaper, it looks like you either have to sell something, or sell
 yourself.
 15.  Meanwhile, there were prospective buyers for our newspaper, too.
 Among those who showed interest were- strange as it may seem-the CPL
 Central Committee (telephone call): "We hear you have some money
 problems. How much do you need?"; the military (they offered to
 share their office space); some people engaged in pump manufacturing
 and in reselling imported shoes.  We got offers-through
 intermediaries-from cooperatives in the Crimea, one bank in the
 Transcaucasus, and then simultaneously several firms in Moscow. Some
 were interested in an opportunity to establish themselves in the
 Baltic market; others-to invest rubles where tomorrow there may be
 hard currency; still others-to make politics through someone else's
 efforts. Almost all promised millions. Alas, nobody was interested in
 the newspaper as such, let alone an independent one. There was a
 specific price tag attached to the millions-the right to the
 newspaper. We did not find common language with any of them.
 16.  Nevertheless, we survived... After three months of stoppage,
 .desperation, and broken illusions, we took a small loan in the bank
 and started with commercial supplements. For several months, nobody
 was paid a salary- all income went to buy paper for the future
 newspaper.  At the same time, we were looking for new authors.
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 Document 15 of 17                                                Page   5
 17.  30 September was the birthday of BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA. In having
 to obtain a new license, we lost the word "independent," but we did
 retain this independence in substance. True, this independence does
 not have much of a material support. In our calculations, the
 remaining resources will last us until the new year.
 18.  Actually, many newspapers have found themselves in a shaky
 situation today. It appears that only those backed up by state
 structures (soviets, ministries, mayoralties) or financed by big
 private capital will be able to survive. It is not surprising that in
 this situation the press is being bought up by mafiosi groups. Some
 do it to launder the party money or income from shadow economy
 dealings; others want to gain power by manipulating the public
 opinion. Some will say: This is what a market economy is; this
 situation is new for the Soviet press but not for the world press.
 There is a difference, however. In democratic countries, the state
 takes upon itself the care of independent press. Any society
 interested in its development must have an interest in opposition.
 Independent press is the opposition; its presence is an indicator of
 the society's health. If this press disappears, so will the health.
 19.  I do not know whether it was this or some other reason that
 moved the prime minister of the Latvian Republic Ivar Godmanis to
 extend a helping hand to the press.  Almost all republic newspapers
 are now included in state orders for paper. The government-was able
 to reach an agreement on deliveries of paper from Russia. So far,
 until the new year. What will happen after that-nobody knows.
 20.  ...A few days ago we saw the NEZAVISIMAYA BALTIYSKAYA GAZETA-no
 longer ours-on Riga newsstands. The new editorial staff does not
 delve into politics. They write about UFO's, rational nutrition, and
 sex. The cover shows a temporary address and the editor's name. Alas,
 this temporary newspaper has more chances to survive than we do. It
 will be supported even if the reader loses interest in the tabloid
 mishmash.

