The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of speech in Russia

[Michael Denner]

Since it seems we are on the subject:
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.html?docId=739175
 
?????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????
?????? Freedom House ?????? ?????? ??????? 
 
There is something, well, postmodern about the press in Russia reporting on the lack of press freedoms in Russia. I tried to explain it to my students today, and I realized that I sounded a little like Lewis Caroll...
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Dr. Michael A. Denner
Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
Director, University Honors Program

Contact Information:
Russian Studies Program
Stetson University
Campus Box 8361
DeLand, FL 32720-3756
386.822.7381 (department)
386.822.7265 (direct line)
386.822.7380 (fax)
http://www.stetson.edu/~mdenner

________________________________

From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list on behalf of Alina Israeli
Sent: Thu 2/1/2007 12:53 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The article in the New Yorker -- freedom of speech in Russia



Some commentary is necessary, I think:

On Feb 1, 2007, at 10:48 AM, Andrey Shcherbenok wrote:

>
> More than that, at any newsstand in a subway station in St. 
> Petersburg you
> can buy Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta, Argumenty i Fakty, Zavtra, 
> Izvestia, etc.
> The scope of opinions expressed in these sources is MUCH WIDER than 
> those
> you can obtain from a newsstand in New York subway.

That is indeed so, but the print media is dying in the US. While in 
the North America almost 70% of the population are Internet users 
(http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm), in Russia the number 
is at 14% (http://www.eatr.ru/media/media_20_07_2006_1.htm) so there 
is higher reliance on print media there.

So in all fairness one has to compare Russian newspapers with the US 
TV land and the Internet landscape.

As for the freedoms themselves, there are freedoms from and freedoms 
to. The 1st Amendment protects the freedom from government's 
involvement. If the government will prevent KKK from publishing their 
rubbish, I will donate money to the ACLU to sue the government and to 
reinstate their right under the First Amendment. But I will not 
support KKK's right to publish their hateful literature.

So in order to see the spectrum in the US, you have to search the 
Internet for a few minutes, really not that much, and you will find 
the far left and the far right, and everything in between.


>  Have you ever seen some easily available media
> source in the US describing the US military in Iraq as a gang of 
> bloody
> murderers? In Russia you can read such a description of Russian 
> military in
> Chechnya in a newspaper purchased for 10 rubles in your local 
> newsstand.

Same deal here: what's easily available is what would reflect a 
seizable majority who do not perceive US Army as a gang of bloody 
murderers. I am sure there are some people who do and you are sure to 
find this on the Internet.

But it is American press that by and large uncovers all scandals 
revolving around the US military (and there were a few over the 
years), and what's most important this information is taken seriously 
by those whose infractions are being uncovered. In Russia the press 
may write, no one cares. I think the establishment's attitude is best 
described ?????? ???? - ????? ?????. How many times has it been 
written about dedovshchina? Now everyone knows the name of Sychev, 
but will the practice stop? Are there any guarantees?


Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387 
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu




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