press freedoms

[Michele A Berdy]

May I remind people that Russia is an enormous country, and the various 
points of view in newspapers, internet, and radio are only accessible to a 
small percentage of it?  The newspapers you cite are available in Moscow, 
St. Petersburg, and -- to a much more limited degree -- the other major 
cities.  Ekho Moskvy reaches about a half million listeners.  If you go to 
Magadan or Ukhta or Vladikavkaz, you will not find Kommersant or Novaya 
gazeta or even Itogi (or if you do find them, they are out of date and 
expensive).  Only a small percentage of the country has access to 
internet.  So -- really only about 20 million people out of 145 have 
access to any of this.  

That is, about 87 percent of the population only has access to TV, which 
is not a free medium.  

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