Pols Say, Stop Quoting Polls
Michael Hedges April 27, 2020 - Follow on Twitter
If news organizations have an addiction in the post-modern age, other than survival, it is public opinion polls. Nothing serves to better illustrate reporting than a percentage. Even more, the graphic showing a trend or correlation is priceless. Little else need be said.
 A month ago (March 24) a new editor-in-chief at Russian business publication Vedomosti was named, in an acting capacity until board approval. Vedomosti’s ownership is also in transition. (See more about the latest Vedomosti transaction here) Andrei Shmarov immediately began showing his stuff, changing headlines, deleting columns, threatening reporters. The “red line” to never cross was quoting polling figures.
“He told me not to mention Levada anymore,” said Vedomosti chief editor Dmitry Simakov, quoted by Reuters (April 23). “Otherwise, he said they would remove him and everyone else and that the publication didn't have any money.” They need not be identified further.
Levada Center is the preeminent Russian social science research provider. It sprang from the All-Union Center for Public Opinion Research (VTsIOM), a State agency formed in the late 1980’s when public opinion became relevant to the new openness. The late Yuri Levada formed Levada Center with colleagues from that agency and was its first director. Much of Levada Center’s work is rather academic social science. It also conducts public opinion polling, often quoted by news organizations in Russia and elsewhere. VTsIOM still exists as a state agency.
The antipathy toward Vedomosti editorial decisions seems to have been piqued by publication earlier this month of a Levada Center poll showing 38% of the Russian population viewing President Vladimir Putin “represents the interests of oligarchs, bankers and big business.”
The timeline is telling. “He (Mr. Shmarov ) said the people in the presidential administration don’t want to see Levada’s polls in Vedomosti, and that the newsroom basically needs to listen to the administration’s wishes if it wants to survive,” wrote Vedomosti editor Ksenia Boletskaya on social media (April 22). The next day (April 23) senior editorial staff published a ripping open letter.
“With this editorial, we would like to confirm that we cherish the values upon which Vedomosti’s reputation is built and we intend to continue defending them,” said the letter presented on the online edition, later removed. “If Vedomosti loses its reputation, it will become just another subservient and controlled media outlet driven not by readers’ need for verified news and high-quality analysis but by the interests and ambitions of its official and hidden owners. There are already enough media outlets like this in Russia.”
Now it seems prospective investor Arbat Capital principal Alexey Golubovich has cold feet, reported Meduza (April 24). He has several problems with the deal ranging from the economic climate surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the “politization of conflicts inside Vedomosti’s newsroom.” He would, said the report, be willing to find other investors.
To end a contentious week Russia’s Human Rights Council, reported business portal RBC (April 25), “demanded that Vedomosti reporters be given the right to nominate the editor-in-chief without pressure from the owners… to avoid the destruction of one of Russia’s most respected newspapers.” Asked about all of this, Mr. Shmarov replied “none of your business.”
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