Minister Supports Setting Up New Russian TV Channels Instead of Banning Existing Ones
Latvia and Lithuania have shut down the broadcasts of Russian television channels and Latvia has floating the idea of a Baltic-wide Russian-language channel. Minister of Culture Urve Tiidus thinks the founding of a new channel is a better idea than banning established outlets.
Tiidus told ERR radio today that banning a station will not bring success, instead, providing truthful and reliable information is more important, which is why the founding of a new channel would be more effective.
Ivars Belte, who sits on the supervisory board of Latvian Television, has suggested creating one Russian-language channel for all Baltic states to present more accurate information.
Tiidus said the idea is worth considering and practical steps must be taken, but added that a new channel would require considerable resources.
Belte said there is interest in creating the channel but ministerial meetings must be the next step. Tiidus said there has been no written proposal so far, so she will decide in the coming days whether she will contact Belte herself.
While Tiidus is open to the idea of creating a new channel, she stressed that developing the potential of existing media outlets should not be ignored, citing the good ratings of the Russian-language edition of ETV's news program Aktuaalne Kaamera.