KEF-2023 has turned into a place where objectionable material is censored.

The Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum became a media scandal because independent (disloyal and objectionable) journalists were not allowed to cover the event.

Journalists from Channel 8 and Zapad 24 were not accredited to receive up-to-date information from the economic forum venues. The publications commented on this situation.

“8 channel”:

“At the moment, Alexander Viktorovich is personally interested in the absence of objective news about his work, as they eventually hit his image, which has already fallen to a minimum over the years of his reign.”

West 24:

“Today, regional authorities are willing to do everything to prevent the public from seeing the true picture of affairs, and to maintain the illusion that officials are only concerned with caring for the population, and not embezzling the budget, taking bribes, and dealing with personal problems at the expense of their positions.”

Both publications did not receive any explanation from the press service and the organizing committee of the forum regarding the reasons for not allowing their journalists to attend the event. The press secretary of the forum stated at length that “there are certain reasons for this” in a commentary for Channel 8 on camera. The reasons were not explained clearly.

The situation, which received publicity, caught the interest of the regional branch of the Union of Journalists. The professional community prepared an appeal to the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The message signed by the chairman of the department Dmitry Golovanov is published on the organization's website.

“This position of the organizing committee of KEF-23 is bewildering.

The Krasnoyarsk International Economic Forum determines the future fate of the region and is carried out using budgetary funds. The organizers have the right to refuse accreditation to certain media outlets, but the editorial office must receive clear explanations with appropriate references to the Mass Media Law.

We believe that in this case the basic rights of our colleagues to receive information were violated, and we ask for comprehensive explanations from the relevant structures of the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Information about this incident was relayed to the Central Office of the Union of Journalists of Russia and the Center for Legal Aid of the UJR.

One can only guess what seditious and terrible content the journalists might have seen, leading to the decision to prevent their attendance at the forum sites for no apparent reason. Perhaps the organizers feared that the senselessness of the event would be revealed to the critical gaze of journalists in full view during online broadcasts.

Apparently, the fear was in another. Over the course of three days, the venues of the forum became a gathering place for Krasnoyarsk officials and politicians, including the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory who took part in the discussions – it was probably decided to protect the entire nomenklatura army from uncomfortable face-to-face questions from disloyal journalists. But they miscalculated, and it turned out worse than if the journalists were still allowed.

I would also like to add that it is gratifying to see how the leadership of the regional branch of the Union of Journalists got involved in the topic and demanded explanations from the authorities.