For the last two years, countless business people, academics, and some Russia watchers have told me to keep up the good work, cuz the mainstream media will never print what you write!
I feel absolutely vindicated: I got 99% of the Yukos story right from the outset. (What is the 1% I got wrong? Why the Kremlin allowed the YukosSibneft merger to fall through - the Kremlin could have snagged both at the same time).
However, and in the process, no one in the Western media world here in Moscow will even speak to me.
I am banned at the Moscow Times. A new reporter at the Time's interviewed me over the phone a few weeks ago. When I asked him later what happened to the interview, I heard, "Well, you know, I didn't know that, well, you know." I said no problem, "I guess the ban is still in effect, right?" The reply, "well, you know..."
Also consider that the Washington Post will print opeds from very obscure individuals - what is important is to print the same damning interpretation of Russia.
On the upside is the experts' panel I run. Some big names in Russia studies/Russia watching are signing up - all telling me that we have to take back the Russia story from the pinheads in the media.
Lastly, I want to keep my cards close to my chest, but I am positioned to hit the big time when it comes to access. Instead of reaching tens of thousands of readers, hopefully I will have to the chance to reach millions. When that happens, I will not be ignored - simply called a traitor.
--- Jim Devine <jdevine03 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Surely, one of the most infuriating aspects of
> modern media life -- at
> > least here in the US where I happen to be
> nervously sitting at the
> > moment -- is the lusty abandonment of narrative
> consistency and removal
> > of even recent history from many 'news' stories.
> >
> > So Khodorkovsky, described only a few short years
> ago by the 'quality
> > press' as essentially a thief, was transformed,
> once the Putin vs.
> > Khodorkovsky story was firmly in place, into a
> besieged reformer
>
>
> it's reminiscent of the way that, in Orwell's
> _1984_, the people rushed out
> to demonstrate their hate for Eurasia, only to find
> that the Enemy du jour
> (according to the Party Line) was instead Eastasia.
> What traitor had faked
> the signs to say "Eurasia"? they asked. The fact
> that Eurasia had been the
> Enemy had been flushed down the memory hole.
>
> some think that _1984_ was simply based on a
> critique of Stalin's USSR. But
> if read carefully, it's clear that a lot of it comes
> from his experience in
> the UK, including the role of mainstream press.
> E.g., Stalin was an official
> Bad Guy -- until he was allied with the UK -- and
> then became a Bad Guy once
> again when the war ended.
>
> --
> Jim Devine
> "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go
> your own way and let people
> talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
> > ___________________________________
>
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