The four Estonian media representatives have been accused of violating journalistic ethics for accepting the free airfare, hotel stays and laptops from the Russian state-owned media company RIA Novosti, which has been called a propaganda tool of the Kremlin by its political opponents.

TALLINN — What would you do for a free laptop? Would you write more favorably about the person that gave it to you? That’s the compromise a group of Estonian journalists are being accused of from other media outlets and even President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

The journalists in question are Janek Luts, Kuku Radio editor; Urmo Soonvald, Delfi.ee editor; Väino Koorberg, Õhtuleht editor. Urmas Oru, the general director of Channel 2 is also involved. Each took part in a RIA Novosti media forum for journalists from former Soviet countries held in Moscow at the beginning of December. Besides covering all airplane tickets and expensive hotels in the center of  the city, all participants were given free laptops as well.

Backlash at the incident flared up in the Estonian media last week, and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves denounced the actions of the four Friday during a speech at the Estonian Newspapers Association media conference.

“If a politician is going to Moscow with a full-paid airplane ticket and a hotel room, and receives a pricey gift or money, then I believe we all know what is going to happen, especially when one starts praising Kremlin’s politics and slandering Estonian politics. The question is, what should we think about the journalists who are doing the same?” President Ilves said. “We can say it’s freedom of speech, and a journalist with an expensive gift is expressing his freedom of speech, but shouldn’t the readers know? Is it ethical to hide their interests or conflict of interests this way?”

Some Estonian journalists turned down the offer, citing some of the reasons Ilves mentioned. Urmet Kook, the director of the ERR news department, said no to the invitation because RIA Novosti is not an independent organization, but state-owned and subject to control by the Kremlin.

Just a seminar

Those who did attend said they felt no qualms that the trip or the gifts compromised their professional integrity. Luts said that he just went there because he was invited to talk about the journalism in a new era for the media and saw nothing unethical about it.

“It was not unethical; I have spent time behind enemy lines before,” Luts told Baltic Reports.

Luts called the president’s comment was unfair.

“The laptop was given as a work tool with conference materials inside,” said Luts, “I took it with me out of curiosity, to see what may have been installed inside the machine but I have not turned it on out of fear.”

Soonvald told Äripäev that the trip indeed was in accordance with normal ethical standards of journalism and noted that no suspicious accusations were made about trips to journalism seminars Helsinki, Washington, D.C., London or Kabul.

“I am 100 percent certain that the pre-paid airline tickets are not compromising any Estonian journalist’s values and professionalism,” Soonvald told Äripäev.

In addition to Estonian media representatives, Latvia and Lithuania sent delegations of journalists along with other former Soviet countries. Chinese representatives were also present.