The New York Times yesterday ran a shocking article about how freedom of the press simply doesn't exist when it comes to Russian television. This photo, from the article, shows a pundit who was digitally removed (that's his disembodied hand and leg next to the microphone guy) from a broadcast because his opinion was not Putin-approved.
It makes you appreciate the U.S., doesn't it?
The White House press department may be a little, um, withholding, as McClellan's press tour continues to remind us, but it's still pretty amazing how during Bush's reign plenty of people have gotten to bash him on TV without being PhotoShopped out of existence.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. THE NYT IS NO ONE TO COMMENT ON CENSORSHIP.
IRONBLUEEYES at 6:10PM on Jun 4th 2008
2.
This is just the way the NYT's says..."you think we suck as a media outlet, look at those Russians".
Of course,the Russian media is more tolerant of oppossing views than the NYT's. In Russia, they let you give the opposing view, but don't show your face.
At the NYT's views opposite their own don't exist.
Willet at 6:30PM on Jun 4th 2008
3. The expression of "free speech" is not such a great thing here in the USA either when 90% of what you hear & read is dissenting garbage. Our diversity translates into "adversity" with ten different opinions all going in opposite directions never resolving a single damned issue.
When we learn how to respect "free speech" again intellectually someone wake me up & before you tell me how misled I am because of our great constitution, tell me the unified positives we enjoy from freedom for every loonie to speak up....
Bobby at 7:47PM on Jun 4th 2008
4. I have never been to Russia, but I have been sensored by the MSM here in the United States of America, so while it is important to me that we are both aware and informed of what is happening in the world, I am unwilling to settle for the comparisons of how much better we have it in the United States of America than Russia. We are supposed to have it better than there, while we are being victimized by the leftists and the MSM through exclusion that disallows voices that do not agree with Mr. McClellan or the LEFTISTS IN THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA. Just because the Russians use different tactics means very little if the result is the same, with the exception that such exclusionary tactics are not supposed to happen in the U.S. and the reason why there are special protections written into our Constitution.
cdalealden at 11:10PM on Jun 4th 2008
5. Who cares about the media in Russia? It's their country, they can run it however they like. Let me repeat that, it's THEIR COUNTRY. Not ours. We're not a global community yet. Like we're so great to begin with. Sure we have freedoms, and our government takes them away while we happily vote them back into office. We have media that is so biased it's not even funny. We're not even a true democracy. I'm not saying we SUCK, but let's not get on a high horse and start looking down our noses at other countries. It's none of our business. NONE.
Strados at 7:44AM on Jun 5th 2008
6. Long Live Big Brother!! This is just like Orwell's "1984"!
NickKnight74 at 8:43PM on Jun 5th 2008
7. The Russians have finally gone digital. It is a lot easier and cheaper to remove people from photos now. This harkens back to the Soviet days, when people fell out of favor with the party or Stalin. The new Russian personna-non-grata politics.
JefFlyingV at 1:13AM on Jun 6th 2008