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PUTIN'S INTERVIEW TO TASS

Media should behave responsibly, not ‘spew nonsense’ — Putin

Otherwise they will turn into a "gang" serving private interests, Putin said

MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Mass media, which have great influence on their audience, should behave responsibly, otherwise they will turn into a "gang" serving private interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin said

Speaking in an interview for the TASS project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin" the Russian head of state agreed to the opinion that the press is the fourth branch of power in the society.

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"The media has an impact on public opinion and in this respect it is certainly a power. How could it be otherwise? In the modern world, it is particularly relevant and important," he said.

At the same time, Putin added that "the media should not talk glibly and spew nonsense."

"Authority implies responsibility, but without responsibility it would be nothing more than a gang, which pursues its own, corporate, and purely personal interests," he said.

"There are many cases when bribes are used to buy off this fourth branch of power you are talking about. Some people are ready to do anything to remain untouched. Do not pretend to be surprised! Some people - business people - do pay money just to remain untouched," Putin added. "And this fourth branch of power of yours eagerly swallows it and turns a blind eye to those who pay up."

At the same time, Putin stressed that the state’s total control over the information space is impossible, due to a large number of media outlets popping up online.

"Go ahead and try changing the Internet’s mind," the president suggested. "It’s the media today. It is quite obvious that this is a part of the media, but the format is different. <…> It is also a mass medium. Many people, mostly young people aged 17 to 24, do not watch TV anymore. They surf the Internet."

The project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin" and devoted to the 20th anniversary of Putin’s work at the helm of the Russian state, was launched on February 20, 2020. The TASS news agency has already released 17 episodes of the interview, but decided to suspend the project due to drastic changes in the global information space. Today’s episode of the interview will be the final one.

The final episode of the video interview is available at https://putin.tass.ru/en.

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