Studio voting in 'Matter of Principle' a fake?

In early June, a journalist of Nasha Niva participated as "extra" in the recording of the talk show "Matter of Principle" (Delo Printsipa). Here's a surprise: there is no voting of viewers whatsoever.

"During the recording, 99% of the audience, whose hands I could see, did not even touch the consoles. Seeing this, I pressed the buttons on my remote. The screen never changed," wrote Ulad Shvyadovich in his article.

A few days later, we accidentally saw one of the applications on the tender site. It said that the ONT (Closed Joint Stock Company Second National Channel - Euroradio) wants to buy... a voting system. "A coincidence? I do not think so"... and we decided to verify this fact. I immediately asked the show host Vadzim Hihin about it. But he somehow refused to comment on the situation.

Vadzim Hihin: "These are some corporate issues, so please turn to the ONT - they have a press office, and they'll tell you."

Press service it is. I decide to be open about it and simply asked about the "coincidence."

"I thought about the coincidence, too - responded the head of the press service Yulia Dubouskaya, laughing. - But in fact, this purchase was planned long ago. In part, we also rent equipment: we use our own, but something is rented - we do not have everything. Now, apparently, there were some additional funds, and the management decided to buy it..."

Of course, the representative of the channel rejected allegations about the absence of true voting during the talk show.

Yulia Dubouskaya: "Later, (after the article appeared- Euroradio) I talked with the producers about all these technical issues. But before every program there come technicians from an organization checking these remotes. You know, people use this technical service, and they must ensure its quality. Therefore, before each program there is a check."

Still, Ulad Shvyadovich takes a stand:

"From my seat, I saw two and a half rows, and that's roughly 25 people. Only one of them was constantly holding the remote in his hand. Plus another 20-25 people sitting opposite me, whose hands I could always see. And when some participants said something out of line and the graphs started dancing around, I saw that no one was touching the remotes. If you believe this system works, at least some people in the audience had to do something with their consoles, but the people sat and listened..."

He said he particularly picked up not only his own, but also two neighboring remotes, pressed on them, but it did not affect the graphs. Ulad Shvyadovich also said that the remotes looked very regular like  "those from the VCR," and nobody explained which button to press to vote "for" or "against."

Yulia Dubovskaya denies all charges. She says she has a lot of claims to the article. That's why, she said, they even decided not to respond officially. She reminds me that I was invited several times to take part in the recording of the talk show and invites me once again - so that I could see all with my own eyes.

But what's the  point of going there, if they have already purchased the voting system? Incidentally, the voting system supply tender was one by the JSC "Office Technologies". The system will cost the channel 191 million 718,000 rubles. "What are the delivery times?" I asked the firm representative. "I am not disclosing this information, because it is confidential. But if you purchase something from us, everything will depend on the order: you may get it after two weeks or within two months."

Thus, the equipment is likely not there yet, and the talk shows after the article were recorded using the old system and the old remotes. I decided to ask the "unbiased person", a man who regularly takes part in the "Matter of principle" as part of the crowd.

Pensioner Valery Alyakseyevich frankly admits: sometimes he had doubts about that vote - if it really works...

"I also have a suspicion in this regard. But at the latest program they insisted, "Do not think that they do not work." But if I'm the only one out of 150 click it, there is no difference. For graph to change, there should be at least a dozen of people, then the percentage will change. But I also used to have doubts about this remote..."

As for the remotes, he says it is simple there: the button number 1 is a "for" vote, and the button 2 is "against." All the rest simply do not work. I could not learn more about the technical aspects of the voting process, signals received from the remotes, their influence on the graph. But soona new system will be acquired, and you can ask technicians about it, when you visit the program...

The journalist also grew suspicious of the fact that after the program was recorded, extras were separately recorded with remotes in their hands, pressing buttons. But it is simple: such footage is shot for cut-ins that are required for the montage of the show - it is not broadcast live after all...

Photo: Euroradio