freedom of the press

[Yoshimasa Tsuji]

Dear Alina,
  Although Putin has stifled mass media a bit, but saying
>>Today we may be witnessing the end of the freedom of the press in Russia.

is too much of an emotinal exaggeration. Look at other Eastern bloc
countries, particularly those that were part of the Soviet Union.
Russia is still one of the freest counties of them all.

>>Russian public opinion in this matter is on the side of the government
>>simply because it always has been on the side of the government and because
>>Russians philosophically hate rich people.

Russians love rich people, but not those who show off their possesions,
but those who are rich in non-material values, such as scholarship,
arts, good manners, etc. Since the majority of the Russians have been
very poor for hundred of years, they love those who would understand and
sympathize them and hate those who look down upon them (A perfectly
respectable young scholar from Russia may be taken for a prostitute,
or a beggar at best in the West. Stories like this abound.)

I don't think Putin is determined to save the poor, but thanks to the
budget surplus he is going to raise the salary of the state employees
and the pensions substantially. The West may object to this, saying it
will cause hyperinflation and try to snatch money back to IMF etc., no
one knows what will really happen, but Putin appears to the public a good
guy. On the other hand, Berezovskij, having stranded somewhere in Europe
due to a breakdown of his personal jet plane, can hardly gain public
support for his campaign for the freedom of the press even if he tries
to pass his control over NTV to a group of intelligentsia. Nobody trusts
a person who everyone thinks has robbed the country.

>>The only thing that may still have an effect is the Western public opinion.
>>Please think about it.
I very well remember how Jablinskij failed in the last election: firstly,
it was reported that he was popular in the West (that was devastating
to his image). Secondly, he began developing a large scale election
campaign in the TV and particularly in the streets at every way out
of the underground station. People wondered, where does all this
extraordinary money come from? No wonder Jablinskij was seen as
buying votes. (It was very risky that US supplied so much money
to El'cin in the presidential campaign. Lucky he was that the fact
never got out in bad timing.)

The most important factor in Russia is patience. Do not jump to any
measure that they say will solve the problem. Only the time can.

Cheers,
Tsuji

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