Welcome to Anna Arutunyan's media blog. Because my book, the Media in Russia, goes through 2008 and early 2009, I want to use this as an opportunity to track media developments in Russia at what I think is a still pivotal point in history. The premise is that we still do not know where Russia's "fourth estate" is headed. We can only speculate, ( Read more... )

I finally went to see Stoppard's Coast of Utopia at the RAMT on Saturday, sat through the whole ten hours of it. And I'm glad I went now instead of last year - the chatter of abstract revolutionaries like Bakunin looks particularly ill-boding ( Read more... )

Feb. 25: leading pollster shows Russians favor Ded Moroz, the Dolphin and the Bear for the Sochi Olympic mascot. Leopard is the LEAST favored, according to VTSIOM ( Read more... )

Nearly every time an artist, filmmaker or historian tackles Ivan the Terrible, the result frequently serves as a litmus test of where exactly the current Russian regime headed. And Pavel Lungin’s Tsar, I’m happy to say, made no attempt to portray Ivan IV favorably. But inevitably comparing it to Eisenstein’s masterpiece, the film’s Western viewers ( Read more... )

Writes the Guardian:

Vladimir Putin as given his clearest hint yet that he is preparing to get back his old job as president during a masterful performance at his annual question and answer session with the Russian public...."I will think about it," adding "There's still plenty of time ( Read more... )

Regarding editorial independence: I spoke to Vitaly Korotich (who I hope will forgive me if I draw the wrong conclusions from what he told me), who was the editor of Ogonek magazine between 1986 and 1991. Like many in his generation, his accounts are populated by specific people whom he refers to by their first names. Suddenly, in the middle of our ( Read more... )

Lenta.ru reports that Novaya Gazeta, which was granted an interview with Medvedev last month, got more citations in the press. Of course, this depends on how you look at it - Novaya Gazeta got more citations ever since February, when editor Muratov met with Medvedev after the murder of journalist Anastasia Baburova. Then last month's interview. It' ( Read more... )

I must admit, I am part of a very strange journalistic tradition. First, editorial rows get resolved by Stalin, then the paper is revamped at the behest of Putin (who visited the place to make sure it was money well-spent). Researching the history of The Moscow News, you see how everything changes - and everything remains the same. It's one thing ( Read more... )

The press pool of the prime minister, journalists are telling me, has changed - there is much less access, they say. At the meeting with the Mongolian prime minister yesterday, there was a 15-minute “press statement” but a spokeswoman warned us that there would be no questions, so it was, essentially, a photo-op. A few cameramen were allowed in for ( Read more... )

Medvedev's reaction to the latest journalist death has been meeting with the editor of the paper she worked for, Dmitry Muratov. Critics claim Medvedev is all words and little action - in the case of his taking a liking to Novaya Gazeta, words become the actions - in some cases, the only actions towards what is widely seen as his liberal streak. ( Read more... )