The Inspector General And The Printing House

Michael Hedges May 25, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Freedom of the press, perhaps a surprise to some, was not originally enshrined to protect newspapers. It was to protect printing houses. This dates back to the 16th Century. Many, many countries, even those with rather dicey records on the more modern formation of press freedom, have a law or two to protect the process of printing from the whims of kings, bishops, landlords and such. The modern equivalent of controlling printing presses might be like controlling the internet, a concept near and dear to today’s politicians, as expressed so eloquently this week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the e-G8 in Paris.

Russia has laws protecting printing houses, and so does France. So it comes as a surprise, perhaps to some, that the Krestyanin printing house in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don was shut down because a local politician didn’t like what it was printing. Nikolai Gogol might have written this play.

Printing house Krestyanin prints several newspapers in the Rostov region. It is owner of a newspaper by the same name, which means The Peasant. Printing houses pay the rent, lights heat and employees by printing, literally, anything. Earlier this month printing house Krestyanin was hired to print leaflets for a politician running for mayor, who happened to be opposing the United Russia Party candidate. A political operative associated with the United Russia Party candidate phoned the deputy director of printing house Krestyanin and said – cue Marlon Brando – “have we got a deal for you.”

Thereafter the director of printing house Krestyanin informed the political operative that under Russian election law a printing house cannot refuse to print leaflets for certified candidates. The leaflets were printed and shortly thereafter the police arrived to investigate a complaint that the aforementioned leaflets contained “anti-Semitic propaganda.”

A few days later power was cut at printing house Krestyanin, authorities explaining that a fire had been reported. There was no fire and printing house Krestyanin, a quite modern facility, had its own generator. After that, the fire inspector arrived carrying an order that the printing house must be shut down for inspections, which he and his team carried out visually.

So, rather than informing the printing house Krestyanin management of infractions in the fire code, the fire inspector took his findings directly to the district court, which ordered the premises sealed. Two days later (May 20) the facility was re-inspected and certified A-OK by the fire inspector. The newspaper Krestyanin website, off for two days, returned to the web. Everybody should be, more or less, happy, right?

That would be too easy. The court in Rostov decided (May 24) that printing house Krestyanin will remain closed and new hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 31. No newspapers will be printed and, certainly, no campaign leaflets.

Of course, there will be in 2012 significant national elections in Russia, just like France. Perhaps the political operatives are sending a message to owners of printing houses or, even, websites.

Ivan Federov introduced the printing press to Russia in 1553. He lived in a monastery.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Russia

Media in Russia is big business and big politics. Media companies are consolidating as they move into new media and new territories. At the same time independence is still questioned. It's all changing. ftm looks at media in Russia and its neighbors, includes Resources, 124 pages. PDF file (January 2012)

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