ORT DIRECTOR APOLOGIZES TO SOLZHENITSYN, BUT SHOW IS OUT.

Russian Public Television (ORT) director general Sergei Blagovolin has publicly apologized to Nobel laureate writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn for failing to consult with him before canceling his television show. Blagovolin, however, called his decision "inevitable and necessary," explaining that viewers were complaining about the program’s length and that Solzhenitsyn was the only public figure who had his own show to express his personal views, an unacceptable privilege at election time. Blagovolin also discussed corruption at his station, admitting that some anchormen had been offered from $40,000 to $300,000 to broadcast the views of various political parties , and that such money had actually been paid out in several cases. (8)

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