Russian Journalists Quit Over Censorship

A state-controlled broadcast center in Russia has just seen the result of censorship restrictions imposed by the Kremlin. In a rare show of protest a group of journalists all resigned stating that they could no longer work under the harsh restrictions imposed by the state. "Artyom Khan, one of the reporters who resigned, said restrictions were introduced when new management was imported last month from Channel One, the state television station that documents Mr Putin's every move."

Not too different from MSNBC

[Vicarius]

Not saying there is no censorship in Russian media, but why can't "state controlled" network can't impose its own agenda like many other media companies do?

IMHO, if you want an objective news coverage, you have to look at the Internet, where an open uncensored discussion is possible.

Russia is well on its way

[Sciros]

back to Soviet times. But this time with a healthy mix of organized crime and even more corruption!

In a couple more years it might get to the point where being outspoken like this journalist will get you a one-way-ticket to the far East >_>

FTA

[Cancer_Cures]

Eight reporters from the Russian News Service said they could not work under new rules that required them not to interview or mention opposition leaders such as Garry Kasparov and to ensure 50% coverage of "positive news". Kinda like how the U.S. main stream media does not mention Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul.

Re:Not too different from MSNBC

[clarkkent09]

Not sure I understand what "state controlled" means here. Is it financed by the state i.e. from the taxes? From what I can tell from wikipedia, Channel One is a privately owned company, no?

It does make all the difference. A public TV station should not use taxpayers money to promote a particular party or a politician. A private company can do whatever it wants.

This is progress!

[$criptah]

Khrushchev and Kennedy are talking about freedom of expression. Kennedy says, "In United States, anybody can come out and scream 'Kennedy sucks!' Nothing will happen to that person because we have freedom of expression in the United States." Khrushchev smiles and says, "So what? If a person goes to the Red Square and shouts 'Kennedy sucks!' nothing will happen to that person too!"

We have a bunch of folks who resigned because of the censorship. That is awesome! At least they did not up in Siberia like my ancestors. I bet writing a letter and saying "I do not work here anymore." was easier than living on a bread-and-water-and-beatings diet in prison. I am not going to engage into a debate on us-vs-them because every governmentt in the world has a dark side.

In the past, way too many Russian journalists died under interesting circumstances. These guys are alive, so the country is heading somewhere when compared to its neighbor, Belarus.

Re:right..

[Khaed]

You've obviously never heard of Senator Diane Fienstien, who said she would take every gun from Americans if she could.

Or the ridiculous Assault Weapons Ban, passed by a Democrat controlled congress and signed by Bill Clinton. A law that banned guns on cosmetic features and made a minimum impact on crime; most weapons used in crimes are not "assault" weapons (which are NOT machine guns -- fully automatic guns require a license and a yearly tax), they're stolen or otherwise illegally gotten pistols. When the bill was going to expire in 2004, supporters (Democrats) claimed there would be blood in the streets. And... nada. Three years later, it turns out it was just a bill passed to "feel good."

And to make Democrat supporters like the Brady Campaign happy. They support Gun Control. And look at how they rate elected officials. They rate Democrats higher. So, the gun control lobby likes Democrats. When a group likes a political party, that tends to imply that party supports the same thing that group does.

It's not *all* Democrats, just like not *all* Republicans are pro-gun. In fact, most suck on the issue. But they suck to a lesser extend than Democrats do on this issue.

This is an important issue to me, and it irritates the living hell out of me that my choices are between an idiot who wants to take all guns and an idiot who wants to take all non-hunting guns.

Also, the NRA is no more powerful than the Brady Campaign and mostly supports guns for hunting; I don't give a rats ass about hunting, so I could care less what the NRA says.

Re:Actually, this is good news

[moyl]

Where did you guys get the idea that Russia poisoned Yushchenko? It did not, at least it's never been proven by anyone. In the Ukraine, the investigation of this crime has all but frozen -- almost as if the country nationalist leaders know something about it that makes it better to keep it like that. The investigators found nothing, zilch, at least publicly. The press seems to have forgotten about it. There are persistent rumors that Ukraine's own SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) was involved.