Broadcast Views

Arkady Ostrovsky's "Broadcast Views" piece in the Financial Times provided an excellent look at the way Russian media has developed (or regressed) under the Putin presidency. What I found most troubling about this piece was the willingness of journalists to openly promote a presidential candidate for the good of the country. To me, there is a logical disconnect in this idea.

If the media were to present both candidates in a fair and unbiased manner, one can assume that the people are intelligent enough to make the decision that is best for the country. In this case, it seems relatively simple--the liberalization of Yeltsin or a return to communism. Yet, the media felt the need to promote Yeltsin over the communist candidate. This seems to assume that the people are not smart enough to make this decision on their own; they need some help from the media to make the proper choice.

But if the people need the media to help them make proper choices, why should the government not regulate the media to help them make these proper choices? It seems to be a slippery slope.

Furthermore, these journalists are making a drastic assumption that the people are not educated enough to make choices on their own without any basis...the idea that people need to be taught democracy, to me, is one of the worst ideas circulating today.