So now we have the battle of the press corps shills? The WP is fingering Putin's press corps as mouthpieces for his government. If so, are *'s flacks any different?If President Bush thought he would receive support from Russian reporters when he raised the cause of free speech, he did not know much about the Kremlin press pool.
"What is this lack of freedom all about?" one Russian reporter challenged Bush during his joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. "Our regional and national media often criticize government institutions."
(snip)
The exchange illustrated more about the state of freedom in Russia than met the eye.
While Putin travels around with a contingent of reporters just as Bush does, the Kremlin press pool is a handpicked group of reporters, most of whom work for the state and the rest selected for their fidelity to the Kremlin's rules of the game. Helpful questions are often planted. Unwelcome questions are not allowed. And anyone who gets out of line can get out of the pool.(snip)
If Bush does not trust the Russian press to get the story of yesterday's news conference right, he can at least go to the Kremlin's own Web site. On it was posted a transcript of the joint news conference. Only all of Bush's statements and answers were deleted.
In the U.S., even some of *'s statements are altered or deleted.more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51587-2005Feb24.html