The problem for the Novaya Gazeta isn't just that Vladimir Putin's government is allegedly killing the Russian paper's journalists (three in the last six years), says the Wall Street Journal [no sub required]. It's that the public is on Putin's side. The Journal reports a 70% approval rating for the Russian president ("Just shy of 80%," says BusinessWeek), and says Russians have become more interested in gossip than politics. The paper is less likely to shut down than to become irrelevant. One Novaya reporter says, "Even if we were to publish pictures of Putin receiving suitcases of money at the Kremlin door, no one would care."
And despite its independence, which won it an investment from Mikhail Gorbachev and favor from Western leaders like Condoleezza Rice, the paper has lost credibility for allegedly publishing articles for pay from Russian politicians and businessmen.
Given all that, the deaths of the Novaya's investigative journalists don't help the paper's chances. The brutal, gangland-style slaying of Novaya journalist Anna Politkovskaya made the editor consider closing the paper this October; and a possible reason for the radiation-exposure murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko this November is that the government poisoned him for saying publicly that Putin ordered Politkovskaya's death. (Below: Litvinenko saying so at an event sponsored by London's Frontline this October.)
Writing for Frontline, former Daily Telegraph Moscow correspondent Julius Strauss describes a Russia in the grip of Putin's all-powerful Federal Secret Service FSB: "After a howling silence, Putin made it clear that he did not see Politkovskaya's demise as a setback for Russia. On the contrary." (He also describes how a Russian journalist with whom he worked was abducted by FSB agents who burnt cigarettes into her fingers; "a key interviewee we talked to later went missing, presumed dead").
Earlier today ETP posted on the record-breaking count of imprisoned journalists worldwide, and noted that these were "just the ones they could count." It's hard to count the ones who simply disappear or die under mysterious causes; it's harder to go to work everyday when the rest of them are being gunned down in public. And harder still without the will of the public behind them. Which leads back to the original question, namely: if more Novaya journalists die, will anyone in Russia care?
— Nick Douglas
Michelle Pilecki
As I lament the lack of coverage of the Iraqi refugee crisis, local drug research and raw sewage in the Great Lakes, one local story has been quickly jumped on by the national press: Angelina Jolie takes Brad Pitt to Fallingwater for his birthday.
What's the perfect birthday gift for half of the world's most famous perfect couple? Why, a visit to one of the world's most famous houses, of course....
Paul Krassner
There are a few private jokes in "Borat." One, which might merely be an example of a low-budget flick, is that the same bedspread appears in three different hotel room scenes. Another is that the anti-Semitic protagonist from Kazakhstan occasionally speaks fluent Hebrew throughout the movie.
An Associated Press dispatch referred to him as a "Jew-fearing journalist" and stated: "In the end, it appeared that naked wrestling, toilet jokes and anti-Semitic satire hold universal appeal."...
Today marks the release of Mel Gibson's Mayan epic Apocalypto — a film that was very nearly canceled in the wake of Gibson's violent, drunken, anti-Semitic rant after being pulled over for a DUI this summer. Gibson went to rehab, his PR machine went into overdrive, and Apocalypto went into post-production — and today, it is being touted as a "bravura feat of epic filmmaking," with actual Oscar buzz as well as the promise of "disembowelings, impalings, clubbings and beheadings." Take that, Dreamgirls!
The film's dialogue is spoken in native Mayan dialects, but NYT filmmaker A.O. Scott notes that "the film's real language is Hollywood's, and Mr. Gibson's, native tongue." ETP has obtained several stills from the movie — with subtitles — decide for yourself after the jump!
AP
It's official: David Geffen wants to buy the LATimes, telling the Wall Street Journal so on the record today. (CNNMoney.com reported in September that Geffen had made a cash-only offer for the LAT to owner Tribune Co.) "I'm finished with the movie business," said Geffen, not at all suggesting that it would be great to go out with an armload of Oscars for some low-profile movie he's producing."I'm not interested in buying things simply to make money," says Geffen, who has pledged to give away all his wealth before his death. "I'm interested in doing something that's going to be valuable for the community, where I can make a difference" — like turning the LAT into a "first-class national newspaper" (possibly surprising those who think it already is).
The Journal also tells the history of Dreamgirls, something that is very hard to come by right about now, which Geffen has been producing on and off since the late 80s. But despite the time he put into this movie, he says it's not his child: "I see my role as a baby doctor helping people deliver their babies." We will refrain from making a joke about the LAT breaking its water in favor of an applicable Dreamgirls quote: "This dream is for all of us, this one can be real," which is really a far less jarring note to end on.
— Nick Douglas (showtune support provided by ETP Staff)
Harry Shearer
That might be the only explanation for the strange (to me) absence of some crucial questions in the punditry over the Iraq Study Group Report this week. One of the ISG's key recommendations, after all, is to focus our military's efforts on training the Iraq armed forces and police. So why didn't anybody bring up this recent report, and this one, which indict the training efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan? Here's the...
from moveleft.com
Rumors continue to swirl that Al Franken is leaving Air America Radio, with the latest being today's report from Radar's John Cook that Franken will be cutting and running "before the end of the year," which is sort of now-ish. Franken will be leaving on a USO tour of Iraq and Afghanistan — his sixth to date — and isn't sure whether he'll be back on the show when he returns, telling Cook "It's not set in stone--I need to see what they're talking about."
This, of course, is not the first time that Franken's possible departure from Air America has been raised. Last month, conservative blogger Brian Maloney Radio Equalizer reported a rumor that Franken was leaving, with his last show set for today. The speculation has continued since then, especially with the fate of Air America unknown as it tries to find a buyer to take it back from bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court deadline to show that a bona fide buyer has legitimate plans to purchase the network — twice extended — is today. The station filed for bankruptcy in October and has $2.6 million loans outstanding, including $360,749.98 owed to Franken, according to Radar. Both Radar and Radio Equalizer report that a buyer has been found, with Radar reporting the imminent sale to "a small media company" and Radio Equalizer reporting that the network is being bought up by a group headed by former boardmember Doug Kreeger which includes Showtime execs Mark Greenberg and Roy Langbord, with a takeover set for January. Either way, the sale raises questions on how to afford Air America's two top stars, Franken and Randi Rhodes, though if Franken officially declares an intention to run for the Senate representing his homestate of Minnesota, the question may officially become moot.
Whatever the rumors, Franken insists that he really doesn't know, saying that his plans upon returning from the USO tour consist primarily of "fall[ing] asleep on the couch."
Bloggers and online reporters make up one-third of journalists jailed worldwide for professional reasons, contributing to this year's record 134 incarcerated journalists. According to the Committee To Protect Journalists, 67 of those are print reporters, editors and photographers, 49 are online journalists, 8 TV journalists, 8 radio journalists, and 2 documentarians.
The top countries imprisoning journalists are China (31), Cuba (24), Eritrea (23) and Ethiopia (18); other countries where journalists are incarcerated are Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Iran, Maldives, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Eritrea leads in journalists held without charge or trial (a total of 20 journalists worldwide). These, of course, is just the ones the Committee to Protect Journalists can count.
Jailed media worldwide hits record [Reuters]
Related:
Imprisoned Vid-Blogger Josh Wolf Denied Request For Hearing, Bail [ETP]
