an addition to the debate: "The Moscow Times is a Kremlin mouthpiece" is the sort of statement one would expect from a schizophenic raving to himself on the corner, probably while sitting in his own refuse." ENDQUOTE
and thank you Chris, for the above, and just can't help wondering, why you "used to write" for... the... what was it... "the Russia Journal", woah, that must be up there with Passport. however the epistolary riposte of claiming that anyone who may disagree with you is a potty head is somewhat fourth grade, but still... the price we pay for democracy. as to anti-Kremlin pieces, sure, why not, the Kremlin as a corporate entity can take it, but my issue with Moscow Times is the sycopantic, hagiographic pandering to individuals and companies. notice the unflinching company of the Russian Standard mess, with a prominently featured no holds barred 'interview' with Tariko, this is a piece that would have been laughed out of any local newspaper, particularly (thanks to the M. Times time delay) coincided with the resignation of the RuSt vice chair and his deputy (same day). the Kremlin doesn't much care what is written about it to a bunch of... well... us. in fact the persistent coverage of the ____________ (fill in name), the maveric economist at the Kremlin, who thinks that the central gov't has too much economic power, has been a source of amusement for over 5 years, it's like seeing a MadLib published in a newspaper, with only the info in the blanks changing. but, the ability of any key individual to get anything pawned off as news is creepy. i do like the dilbert. and as a policy, agree with Nick R., I am rather happier that it is than if it didn't exist. I just think that I get an allergic reaction when I grab it together with the kommersant or vedomosti or nyt or washington post, and forget that the m. times is more of a newspaper in the tradition of the Asbury Penny Pincher and Courier Gazette, available at the local Shoprite than the Philadelphia Inquirer. as to berdy, masha gessen, latunina, and other occasional good writers - they do happen (decreasing frequency), but that makes the whole situation so despiriting. the guy who took a job with USAID and then 'outed' them as a 'journalist' and 'editor', doesn't count in my book, but opinions may differ. kills me to say it, but if you count the coverage over the years and before Mark lost the ability to attract talent, the coverage on FIMACO, financial crisis, etc. the Exile may have done more quality reporting on Russia, before senility set in. mine, of course, mine. _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
