Dozhd host who called the channel Navalny’s “press service” is fired
Over the past week, the liberal public in Russia has been discussing the conflict between journalist Pavel Lobkov and the management of the Dozhd TV channel, where he worked for many years. The reason was a squabble with editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko, who then removed Lobkov from the air. A series of harsh and indecent statements followed on social networks. However, Lobkov crossed the Rubicon when he gave an interview to another liberal media outlet, the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
“There is no separate state and separate opposition. Pavel Chikov wrote a column saying that this situation related to Navalny is causing bitterness on all sides. You have a repressive state and a totalitarian little sect that behaves exactly like the state. Everything that is objectionable, everything that doubts must be uprooted. The agenda is simple and primitive: Navalny is wonderful, Putin is a thief. All. No need for other topics. The channel has turned into a branch of Navalny’s press service,” Lobkov said.
After this interview, a barrage of criticism fell on Ekho Moskvy. Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov had to justify himself, explaining that Dzyadko had also offered to speak out, but he refused. It is noteworthy that Lobkov’s words about Navalny were not included in the transcript of the interview posted on the radio station’s website.
As a result, on the air of Echo, Dozhd TV presenter and Dzyadko’s wife Katerina Kotrikadze said that Lobkov would be fired.
“I believe that the Dozhd TV channel, represented by its management, has chosen a very correct position, in the sense that we do not enter into a dirty, disgusting, vile and deceitful squabble. The only thing I can say is that we will part ways with Pavel. Now discussions and negotiations are underway, details are being explained to the parties,” Kotrikadze said.
The liberal public, shocked by the ugly scandal, reassures itself that Lobkov is an alcoholic.
“Unfortunately, Pavel Lobkov is a heavy drinker. A talented, bright, wonderful presenter, but in daily work communication all this is incredibly tiring. Dzyadko gave a very worthy comment on this situation. Both he and Sindeeva ran out of patience. It happens. It’s hard to live side by side with people who drink,” secular activist Bozena Rynska wrote on her Telegram channel.
However, for opponents of the liberals, the scandal provided an excellent reason to feel their moral superiority.
“Lobkov and Dzyadko are not just a conflict of generations or an ideological conflict. There is no right or wrong here. Both are worse. But if you look at their incident from the outside, at least one thing becomes obvious: in this, as they consider it, liberal-handshake environment, they simply do not accept opinions that differ from their own.
That’s why their broadcasts are predictably stereotypical, and a step to the side is sedition. The fires of the bright-faced Inquisition are instantly lit and hands are itching to unshake the dissident’s hand. He is immediately included in the proscription lists of those who have gone over to the “dark” side. And it doesn’t matter that he himself, demoted to the “vatniki”, screams like a knife about his innocence: class hatred is so... class,” political scientist Alexei Mukhin commented on the situation.
English version :: Read in English Dozhd host who called the channel Navalny’s “press service” is fired