Who’s Censoring Whom?
July 24th, 2007 by ctwalker
An abrupt withdrawal of an article submission by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the respected international affairs journal, Foreign Affairs, has triggered an uneasy back and forth between Russian officials and editors at the publication. An interview by RFE/RL with Foreign Affairs editor James Hoge provides the take from the publication’s side.
An article appearing in Pravda under the title of “US editors try to undermine stable US-Russian partnership” offers the view from Moscow.
The most intrigruing aspect of this curious dispute has been the author’s invoking of “censorship” against the editors at Foreign Affairs.
It may well be that in today’s Russia, where alternative views and voices are so unwelcome, officials have become profoundly unaccustomed to being challenged on anything, certainly policy and politics. Therefore, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel challenged President Putin in Samara in May or when the British authorities challenge the official Russian take on a major transnational crime on British territory, the response from the Kremlin is one of seeming disbelief at the temerity of being questioned.
Meanwhile, independent-minded journalists and editors and civil society groups in the Russian Federation must live within an ever-more censorious regime and ever-smaller boundaries within which to operate.
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