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Abstract: This research investigates media control in non-democratic regimes through the example of state information contracts, a leading form of state support for regional media outlets in todays Russia. Using statistics on such contracts signed in 42 Russian regions in the period from 2011 to 2014, together with qualitative interviews with local media professionals, the article explores the role of these contracts in the regional media sphere and scrutinizes how they became an effective and stable tool for disciplining journalists and instrumentalizing the media in Russian regions during the 2010s. The research explores the transition from direct to structural control, as well as discussing the contextual differences between state interventions in the form of subsidies in democratic regimes and state contracts in non-democratic regimes such as Russias.
Manipulation,1 instrumentalization,2 influence, fraud, capture,3 pressure, grip,4 discipline5-all of these words are used in the academic and industry discussions of control over mass media. A free and independent media is more of an idealized construct than an existing phenomenon. In no political or social system is the flow of information entirely free. However, the nature of control over the information and ideas shared in mass media is determined by various factors, including a country's historical and cultural experiences, its type of political leadership, and economic forces.6
When it comes to non-democratic or hybrid political regimes, scholarly discussions usually focus on the consequences of media control for political and social processes, for instance the impact of media control on elections and voting behavior,7 human rights, or freedom of speech.8 In fact, media control is often understood as a feature of media systems that does not require any deeper examination.9 The mechanisms of how this control is exerted, and what influence it has at various levels-on media professionals, on organizations, and on the media system as a whole-are less studied.
Research on which control practices are used (and in what combination), who the agents of these power relations are, and how they understand media control might offer a deeper understanding of a country's media and political systems. Such a detailed understanding of particular practices and/ or mechanisms, as well as the coping strategies adopted by journalists, can help explain what mediated reality these media organizations and professionals construct.10
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