'Scoop' based on Moscow rumors, another low in British media coverage of Russia

[Anonymous]

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/410423-russia-putin-president-elections/

"'Scoop' based on Moscow rumors, another low in British media
coverage of Russia

Bryan MacDonald is an Irish journalist based in Russia.

Published time: 20 Nov, 2017 16:17
Edited time: 21 Nov, 2017 10:57

(c) Global Look Press

On Saturday night, a supposed "scoop" circulated like wildfire
around the Russia-focused Twittersphere. If it had any basis in
reality, it would have been a bombshell: Vladimir Putin was
"tired" and "considered leaving the presidency in autumn last
year."

Properly sourced, it would have confirmed a rumor which spread
around Moscow in the summer of 2016. Because, back then, at least
six Russian officials, or people connected to them, suggested a
similar scenario to me, in various exchanges. I tried to stand it
up, but nobody would go on-the-record. Then, later that year, in
October, three more apparatchiks and some media people brought up
the topic again, on the fringes of the annual Valdai Club event in
Sochi.

At that point, I contacted one of Russia's most prominent
journalists, who knows Putin personally and has interviewed him
many times. During a lengthy chat, the famous figure told me that
even if Putin were genuinely "tired" and considering retirement,
nobody outside his very close circle would know... and they NEVER
EVER leak. A habit which, naturally, greatly upsets Russian hacks,
who, unlike their American counterparts don't have an endless flow
of "classified" information to reveal.

The household name added that I needed to "stop listening to the
Moscow rumor mill." And not to become "another idiot foreign
reporter who believes they have some special sources in the
Kremlin that Russian journalists don't have," because "if Putin's
team ever do decide to share information it'll be to a Russian
newspaper like Vedomosti or RBC, not to the Moscow Times or the
Guardian." Naturally, I took this advice on board.

Not fit to print

Nevertheless, when The Independent's man-in-Moscow, was boasting
about his "scoop," I hoped against hope that perhaps he had a
proper source for the following pieces of information. "Vladimir
Putin is, sources say, "tired" and, "three separate sources told
The Independent that Mr. Putin apparently considered leaving the
presidency in autumn last year."

But, of course, none of these "insiders" have names. Which means
we have to take The Independent's word for it. Confidence is
reduced midway through the lengthy piece when the report
contradicts itself. Citing "one high-level source," the writer
tells us "Mr. Putin likes the unexpected; and when he makes
changes, he will confer with no one."

This is brain busting stuff. Because if Putin confers with nobody
before making changes, then the only way Oliver Carroll's story
could be true is if he spoke to the Russian president himself. And
he'd make an extremely unlikely confidant of Putin.

So who are the actual named sources here?

Valery Solovey is what lazy journalists call a "rent-a-gob"
analyst. Apparently always willing to talk, he's become a fixture
for English-speaking hacks in Moscow, because he makes dramatic
forecasts and supports the common Western media narrative that
Russia is constantly on the verge of political collapse. However,
he's been the boy who cried wolf too many times now. I know,
because only last year, I quoted him in a Russia Beyond article.
Back then, he predicted 2017 would be the year when "Russians
would turn against Putin." But now we are in late November, and
they haven't. Putin is polling over 50 percentage points ahead of
his nearest challenger, ahead of next year's election.

The second, Gleb Pavlovsky, is an adviser who last worked for
Putin in 2011 and has become an increasingly hysterical critic,
offering his services to American outlets like The Hill, PBS and
Foreign Affairs. Pavlovsky seems to be popular with US
publications because he tells them what they want to hear. But the
fact is he's been out of the Kremlin for six years, and there's
simply no way he has any serious contemporary insight.

And, lastly, Konstantin Gaaze, an occasional "Moscow Times"
columnist and Carnegie Moscow writer is, by no stretch of the
imagination, a Kremlin insider.

Dismal reality

Let's be clear here. The Independent has reported a Moscow rumor
as fact. Probably because it was desperate for a Sunday clickbait
story. But, as I have come to learn, the Russian capital is more
gossipy than a National Enquirer editorial meeting.

For instance, in the past three years, I have had government,
media and academic "sources" swear to me that Sergey Ivanov
(before Putin demoted him), Vyacheslav Volodin, Sergei Kiriyenko,
Alexey Dyumin, Sergey Sobyanin and Maxim Oreshkin will all be the
next Russian president. Indeed, only this weekend, I was told, by
five "insiders" that Dmitry Medvedev will run in the 2018
election, either against Putin or instead of Putin.

Read more
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (c) Timo Heikkala / Global
Look Press
Medvedev after Putin? Kremlin urges caution over presidential
election rumors
https://www.rt.com/politics/410077-medvedev-promises-reporters-not-to/

Earlier this year a Russian billionaire, who has met Putin many
times, told me that the centerpiece of the 1917 centenary
celebrations would be the burial of Vladimir Lenin's body and that
the Kremlin was considering a restoration of the monarchy.
Meanwhile, a former cabinet minister, albeit full of drink,
confided how Putin was going to remarry in the summer of 2017 to
create a feel-good narrative ahead of the election. None of this
happened.

The broadly accepted role of a journalist is to provide insight,
based on fact. In other words, we need to filter the buzz,
whispers, and hearsay and only deliver the news we can properly
verify. And for something as profound as alleging the head-of-
state of a country has considered standing aside, you need clearly
named, on-the-record, sources.
The Independent provided only conjecture and a few familiar
talking heads, with absolutely no access to inside information
from Putin's inner circle. Which is as airtight as a hermetic
seal. It's another low in British press coverage of Russia. But
not quite an all-time low. That dubious honor probably goes to the
Daily Telegraph, which once reported a rumor that Vladimir Putin
had secretly traveled to Switzerland for the birth of a love
child.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of RT." [end quote]