Chapters 3 and 4 provided an overview of how I evaluated the extent of democracy in each province. This appendix offers details about that process as well as additional findings – information about media ownership, number of NGOs, and percentage of the vote that winners received in electoral races. The eight guarantees are in the order in which they appear in Chapter 4.

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

My first task in evaluating alternative sources of information was to identify major outlets of local political and economic news in each province. I began by reviewing media registries, purchasing periodicals at kiosks, reading television guides, watching television, and listening to the radio. From this, I compiled a list of the main state and independent newspapers and broadcasting companies in each region. My list, in Table D.1, includes all the “serious” media outlets. Among print media alone, there are 557 outlets registered in Samara and 135 outlets registered in Ul'ianovsk. But few of these provide political or economic news, and most are tabloids. Moreover, the number of media outlets does not reflect the degree to which the right to provide alternative information can be exercised. A publication or broadcast is of little use to democracy if it only repeats the government line.

With few exceptions, these media outlets are provincial institutions – not city, county, or national organizations.