Almost everyone except the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Social Welfare gained the power to withhold information. This order, single handedly, diminished progress made earlier in opening up government, in providing journalists with access to information. The draft is inconsistent with the existing Press Law. We are still holding our collective journalistic breath after the strenuous protests, in January, against spiraling prices for newsprint and the manufacturing of newspapers. The situation, though, is still fairly tense.
Independence is hard to locate.
For the struggling independent sector in broadcasting, the crisis is also great. The government ministry in charge of transmission of communications is relentless in obtaining a monopoly rent. In January, when Igor Malashenko and NTV were awarded a channel, I protested loudly as former chair of the Temporary Commission on Licensing. But faults in the process do not obliterate the fact that NTV is doing a pretty fine job. Their news is now the best in Moscow and brings the widest perspectives.