"Vedomosti" (Moscow), September 1, 2003

The first business TV channel "RBC-TV" is to begin broadcasting in Russia tomorrow.

Our newspaper has had no luck with colleagues on TV so far. For example, Vedomosti has never invited a former TV reporter to work for us. Unfortunately, there are no professional business correspondents on television, and it is easy to explain: our TV does not like to talk about business.

This is how RBC General Director Yury Rovensky explained this odd phenomenon in an interview with Business-Journal: "A situation has emerged on TV today in which any reference to anybody's business activity or a business immediately prompts the management [of the TV channel] that it smells money here. In the end, any business themes have turned into "devil's incense" for journalists, who avoid them, as they are afraid of accusations of partiality and pursuing personal interests. As a result, the program schedule is obviously deficient: it contains everything: politics, sports, occurrences, but no business. It is simply ignored. This approach is awfully defective."

As TV viewers interested in business news we can hardly disagree with Rovensky's comment.

There are different estimates for the size of this specific business audience. For example, Rovensky ambitiously assigns 10 percent of the country's population to it, defining this group as middle class. Analysis of the business press audience allows for drawing a conclusion that its present size is far smaller. Yet, this audience exists, and it will get a specialized TV channel tomorrow. It is difficult to judge to what extent it will be interested in RBC's project. We only wish our colleagues good luck.

Their success will largely depend on their ability to report news without any bias. Paid reports have largely made business themes disappear from the central TV channels.

We hope that RBC will be able to prove that fair TV journalism is principally possible in Russia. This would set an example for the "senior colleagues," and objective economic and business news would finally emerge on meter-band channels. Frankly, we've been waiting a long time.