freedom of the press

[pyz at PANIX.COM]

>
> 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.

And I suppose that you'll tell us that RFE/RL reporter Andrei Babitsky's
ordeal is a figment of our imagination or some bizarre exception to
the rules.

"Babitsky To Go On Trial" (9/20/00)
http://www.rferl.org/welcome/english/releases/babitsky000920.html

> >>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

The budget surplus currently enjoyed is due to high energy prices; the
day prices falls so does the surplus and whatever hopes that are pinned to it.
Russia's economy is pegged to the export of commodities - oil, diamonds,
timber, fur.  Since there is relative high political risk on the part
of purchasers dealing with Russian exporters, the minute supply comes in line with
demand you can easily expect purchasers to go elsewhere since this risk is overly
costly.  Further, little if any the profits from the current mini
economic boom are directed at capital investment, consequently the average
age of the Russian Federation's capital stock has recently spiked from ten to
fourteen years with the only possiblity of its turnaround coming from foreign
investors; the chance of that is real slim.

Add to this that the RF imports 60% of its food and that its current GDP
stands at 40% of what it was in 1991, and that 36% of the current GDP
benefits Moscow with the balance dispersed across eleven timezones.

> 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.

And time says that it will only get worse.  Russia is collapsing
in on itself - the Kursk tragedy, the Ostankino Tower fire, the
bombings of Moscow, the wars in Chechnya, the appropriation and
export of its wealth are all examples of this continuing trend.

> Cheers,
> Tsuji



Max Pyziur                                     BRAMA - Gateway Ukraine
pyz at brama.com                                  http://www.brama.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                http://members.home.net/lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------