POST-SOVIET PERSPECTIVE ON CENSORSHIP AND FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA: An Overview.

This article provides an overview of how journalists and the media in the post-Soviet countries are regulated by law, and of how in the sociopolitical structure of a law-based state their work can be optimized to become a foundation for public accord and stability. The author sees the legal conditions for a free press in the development of mechanisms of journalists' access to information, in the creation of public broadcasting, in the access of political opposition to the public (or state) media, in the denationalization of mass media outlets, etc. Limitations under the pretext of informational sovereignty or the fight against terrorism and political extremism should not undermine ideological and political plurality in the media and society. The article concludes with a comparison of the level of press freedom between all 15 post-Soviet states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]