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."

Comments

Happens Here, too

[soren100]

This type of thing is not limited to Russia -- it's very common in America, although a little more subtle. For example, Rupert Murdoch told the NY POST Not to publish news critical of China Because he was trying to do business deals there. In the runup to the Iraq war, all you could see on TV was retired generals, and MSNBC cancelled Phil Donahue's show during the month that it had the highest ratings on their network because he was anti-war and had guests with ant-war viewpoints

.He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

The myth that America has a free press allows these types of things to go unchallenged, but the truth of the matter is that America has a "corporate press" that does what its conservative masters wants. The press used to be known as the "4th estate" because it was another tool that held the government in check and kept it accountable, but now it is just "info-tainment". How bad has America's press become? Viewers of "Fake News" Comedy shows (The Daily Show and the Colbert Report) were found by one study to be more informed than viewers of other "real' news shows.

Re:no new cold war

[WilliamSChips]

The meddling USA is the prime facilitator of Islamic fundamentalism. We also send quite a bit of money to Saudi Arabia, which is the most powerful Arabic nation in the world, and also runs the Wahabi sect, the most fundamentalist sect in the Islamic world. During the Cold War the United States fucked up its diplomatic relations with the Arab world incredibly badly, and now is reaping what it sows.