Dozhd was the first television channel in Russia to show the mass demonstrations in December 2011. Due to its willingness to broadcast news not usually shown on state or commercial channels, audiences labeled it an opposition channel. However, it was not created for this.
The channel was originally meant to be optimistic and recruited young people who lacked previous media experience and the self-censorship habits of other channels' news teams.
"I think we were able to do it," Dozhd owner Natalya Sindeyeva told The Moscow Times. "Optimistic for us is the sense, the aftertaste that you get after watching the channel. After watching Dozhd, you don't get the feeling that everything is bad, that you should leave the country. After watching Channel One, you want to commit suicide."
However, audiences have grown frustrated with Dozhd and say it has stopped being the optimist it claims to be.
"When Dozhd channel was founded, it was like a private happiness to me," one viewer said. "I believed that it would be a real optimistic channel that would tell us how our world is great despite all the problems and the horror. Eventually, the channel started to impose its own views on political and social problems and offer coverage just about the problems and the horror, forgetting about its own slogan."
