Today's failure in Russian press freedom discussion

A segment in this morning's BBC Radio 4 Today programme, about whether or not there is freedom of the press in Russia, caught the ear. A Russian government loyalist, Vladimir Madinsky, said: "I think that Russian press is free now". That raised my eyebrows. Then the interviewer, Ed Stourton, turned to Peter Lavelle, a Moscow-based American analyst who managed to decry the state's involvement in media ownership while declaring that the Russian people "know enough to make decisions". Another eyebrow raiser. Finally, some light from Evgeni Kisiliev, who was fired as editor-in-chief of a Moscow TV channel in 2001 for trying to exercise press freedom. He pointed out that, like many other journalists, he is blacklisted and that all the major TV and radio stations are state-controlled. Why did no-one, especially Stourton, raise the subject of the law now making its way through the Duma which threatens journalists who criticise public officials with three years in jail? (see July 7 posting, World's press urges Russia to abandon harsh law). (Via bbc.co.uk/radio4)