OLIGARCHS, INTELLECTUALS AND THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN RUSSIA

By Aleksandr Buzgalin

Two events prompted the writing of this article. The first was the latest arrest of Vladimir Gusinsky, who controls (or perhaps “controlled” would be more accurate) a large network of “independent” media (independent in the sense of not being under direct state ownership)–NTV television channel, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. The second was the 10th anniversary of Nezavisimaya gazeta (NG) which claims–as its name suggests–to have an objective approach (the title translates as Independent Newspaper). This publication, targeted at the “elite” intelligentsia, boasts the motto “Without anger or bias,” also designed to underline its special status as a free, intellectual, analytical newspaper which stands “above the melee.”

WHOSE CELEBRATION? THE INTELLECTUAL ELITE AND ITS ROLE IN RUSSIA