Television censorship in Russia

By non sequitur

It's no secret that Russia is not exactly the most robust democracy on earth, but I found this article especially chilling. It details an unofficial "stop list" -- basically a list of opposition politicians and journalists critical of the Kremlin -- used to keep Russian television free of criticism of the ruling party, and of Putin (and now Medvedev) in particular. In some cases, people have been digitally erased from broadcasts for cracking jokes at the expense of the government. But perhaps the most unsettling part of it is the way those who implement the stop list talk around it -- they say that they have no opposition figures on their shows because "they have nothing to say, they are of no interest," and Medvedev himself weighs in to praise Russian television -- for its technological quality. A fairly disturbing look at the political reality of Russia today.