What's interesting about watching the Russian case is that you can see how this architecture of pluralism can be hollowed out. When governance becomes a mutually beneficial collaborative racket between billionaires and security-institution overlords, the media can be easily brought to heel. Wrap it in the flag, and you can even find sharp, beautiful, quick-thinking media people to justify the whole sordid game. For a while, at least. Cracks are starting to open up at RT itself, if only among the American staff, with anchor Abby Martin going off-script to criticise Russian interference in Ukraine, and fellow anchor Liz Wahl quitting. More impressively, the staff of Lenta.ru is currently in all-out revolt against Ms Timchenko's firing. I hope Western reporters would have the same guts.
