On Russian TV, It Isn’t All About the Strongman
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
NYT
MOSCOW — The talk show topic of the day was: “Putin or not Putin?”
As the host giddily explained, that title alone would have been “unimaginable” on any of Russia’s major public-affairs shows even just six months ago, let alone on NTV, one of the three Kremlin-friendly television networks that dominate the news. His guest, Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, looked as surprised as anyone to find himself attacking Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian leader, on national television.
“This is the first time in five years that I’ve been in an NTV studio,” he said.
Since rising to the top in 1999, Mr. Putin, the prime minister and presidential comeback aspirant, has wielded power by commanding the television screen as surely as he does the security apparatus. But on the eve of the March 4 presidential elections a restive yearning for change is in the air. Many Russians who dread the prospect of another 6 years — or maybe even 12 — of Mr. Putin have taken to the streets, or at least to Twitter. A march in central Moscow this month lured tens of thousands despite blistering cold.
(More here.)
NYT
MOSCOW — The talk show topic of the day was: “Putin or not Putin?”
As the host giddily explained, that title alone would have been “unimaginable” on any of Russia’s major public-affairs shows even just six months ago, let alone on NTV, one of the three Kremlin-friendly television networks that dominate the news. His guest, Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, looked as surprised as anyone to find himself attacking Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian leader, on national television.
“This is the first time in five years that I’ve been in an NTV studio,” he said.
Since rising to the top in 1999, Mr. Putin, the prime minister and presidential comeback aspirant, has wielded power by commanding the television screen as surely as he does the security apparatus. But on the eve of the March 4 presidential elections a restive yearning for change is in the air. Many Russians who dread the prospect of another 6 years — or maybe even 12 — of Mr. Putin have taken to the streets, or at least to Twitter. A march in central Moscow this month lured tens of thousands despite blistering cold.
(More here.)
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