During our last stint in St. Petersburg, I realized that reading the St. Petersburg Times and its sister publication, The Moscow Times, made me depressed. They really give you the impression that 100% of everything in Russia sucks and, if you’re in Russia, a strong urge to run for the border. So I don’t recommend reading it on a regular basis. But nevertheless, there are frequently excellent articles, like this one on why Russia should lift its tourist visa requirements:
Mr. Medvedev, Tear Down This Wall!
“Russia’s position on the visa issue is not useful. At its root, the reciprocity argument is based on pride. But as Bilan and Russian athletes proved this month, Russia has a lot more to be proud of than its ability to create paperwork hassles for Western tourists.”
Update: Kostia disagrees. He thinks that Russia needs to keep its one bargaining chip in the negotiations for visa-free travel for Russians in Europe. I still think it’s a weak bargaining chip at best and Russia is only hurting itself by discouraging tourism and the money it brings.
14 comments
2 June 2008 at 9:03 am
Joy
I agree that reading the Moscow Times can be depressing, but then, a lot of the news out of Russia is depressing, and at least MT’s gloomy articles are more based in real knowledge of Russia than most of the western press. I also think that MT propagates the grim outlook to counter a lot of the Kremlin cheerleading that passes for domestic journalism.
I’ll pass on your appreciation for this editorial to its writer. He’ll be happy, especially with your pull quote, as he was particularly pleased with that turn of phrase.
2 June 2008 at 1:50 pm
megancase
I absolutely agree that the Moscow Times/St. Petersburg Times report on important events and issues that are ignored by the domestic Russian media. Unfortunately, many of the people who most need to hear an alternative perspective are not going to read something that’s in English – and sadly, that’s probably why these papers are still able to exist in the current repressive climate. Those Russians who are able and willing to read press in languages other than Russian are probably also reading news on the internet and are pretty well-informed in general.
I don’t mean to discourage people from reading them, not at all. It’s just that Kostia can confirm that when we were in Russia I tended to have an attack of “oh my god, what are we DOING here?” twice a week – on Tuesdays and Fridays, when the St. Petersburg Times comes out. If you’ve got a temperment like mine, and you want to maintain your sanity while living in Russia, it may not be the best idea to read every issue.
2 June 2008 at 2:13 pm
Joy
The Moscow Times has significantly muted its human-rights-type coverage and upped its business coverage in the last several years* and even so, you’re absolutely right that the fact that it’s in English is probably the only thing that keeps it alive (well that, and the fact that the publisher is willing to subsidize it at the expense of its stable of glossies like Cosmo, FHM, Domashny Ochag, etc). MTs’ reporters, even the foreigners, are considered Russian reporters for purposes of accreditation, and it has had difficulty getting access to certain events, officials, and so on. It was only quite recently that they managed to get a reporter accredited full time to the Kremlin pool. For years their requests were turned down.
*this is tied to several interconnected things, including but not limited to pressure from authorities, the departure of glavredaktor Matt Bivens and installation of Lynn Berry (and then her departure and the installation of Andy McChesney), and the overall fact that the booming economy has become the sexier story about Russia in the last few years.
Anyway, Moscow Times aside, if you want to maintain your sanity while living in Russia, you’ve got to be careful in general about your media consumption. And/or have an ability to handle cognitive dissonance on a grand scale. I love this place and can’t imagine leaving. This place is truly frightening and I should leave before I get stuck. Which is it?
2 June 2008 at 2:42 pm
megancase
“if you want to maintain your sanity while living in Russia, you’ve got to be careful in general about your media consumption”
I think that’s why I like “Afisha” and “Sobaka” so much. I’m not much of a reader of glossy magazines generally, but somehow reading those two in particular makes me feel like there is this hidden world in St. Petersburg where everything is shiny and clean and cool and intelligent, yet still very Russian/Petersburgian. Sometimes I just want to crawl into the pages of “Sobaka” and live there.
Ignorance is bliss, right?
2 June 2008 at 3:26 pm
kostia
“the fact that it’s in English is probably the only thing that keeps it alive ”
I’m not sure it’s the language per se; it’s the circulation. I’ve always felt that things like Novaya Gazeta, The New Times and Ekho Moskvy (and, to a lesser degree, Ogoniok and the Russian Newsweek) are tolerated because they reach a very limited audience.
2 June 2008 at 4:04 pm
Joy
ooh, what’s Sobaka? I like Afisha and adore Bolshoi Gorod, but I could use another glossy-yet-satisfyingly-Russian media outlet.
2 June 2008 at 4:43 pm
megancase
According to its cover, Sobaka is a “magazine about people in Petersburg”, so I don’t know if you can find it in Moscow. It’s 200+ fat glossy pages each month, and while the “recommended price” is 60 rubles, I think it usually sells for at least 100. There’s nothing in there you need to know, but the pictures are pretty.
http://www.sobaka.ru/
2 June 2008 at 4:46 pm
megancase
Kostia – well, in this case it’s the language that limits the audience. And they don’t give The New Times away for free at cafes, do they.
2 June 2008 at 7:19 pm
kostia
Hehe. You don’t pay to listen to Ekho Moskvy, do you. OK, the language makes the Moscow Times even more irrelevant, but the main point is that just about anything that’s not a nationwide TV channel is irrelevant anyway.
2 June 2008 at 7:37 pm
megancase
Maybe they should intersperse all the commentary on Ekho Moskvy with russkiy shanson. Then it would really be a threat. Loyal listeners would just have to grin and bear it for the good of the country.
2 June 2008 at 8:53 pm
W. Shedd
On the original topic, I would point out that the visa requirements for visitors to Russia are not exactly reciprocal with the West. Pretty much anyone can get a visa to Russia, if they follow the ridiculous rules that virtually ensure that everyone is in violation of their visa at some point.
Whereas, visas to the West are difficult to obtain, they have far fewer bizarre strings attached once you arrive.
I mostly object to the Russian invitation policies and how you have to negotiate your way around them, the immigration card nonsense and stamping of visa at your hotel.
In general, I think Russia clings too much to a Soviet mind-set regarding paperwork, passports, visas, travel, and tourism. I suppose they don’t really know any other way to justify bureaucrats jobs.
Someone could try to say the same regarding the Wests post-cold war thinking, although I believe Europe and the US policies are more greared towards economics (and more recently terrorism).
I’ve had some conversations with Russians who were going to come to the US for the summer to work (J-1 Visa) but they backed out, rather pridefully, due to fingerprinting requirements, etc. They said they didn’t wish to be treated like a criminal, etc. and they’ll go to Europe instead.
Of course, I pointed out that Europe is almost universally incorporating biometrics into their passports as well.
3 June 2008 at 1:28 am
Vadik
What a hot discussion is going on! I’m surpised:) Megan, I’m afraid that you and Moscow Times pay too much attention to Medvedev statement. It’s is just statement that will not change this bureaucracy in any way. I remember Putin’s critical words about corruption, science etc. Nothing has followed that words.
This was just a hint for those who come here for events such as Champion’s League Final or Eurovision.
P.S. Times is not pessimistic, so it doesn’t affect my moods. Maybe the reason is that I don’t have time to read every issue of Saint Petersburg Times, but it is surely positive in comparison with The New Times:)
3 June 2008 at 7:41 am
joy
W Shedd, I don’t think it’s about preserving bureaucrats’ jobs at all, but I think you’re right that it has a whole lot to do with mindset about freedom of movement, and restrictions on internal and international movement go much farther back in Russian history than the Soviet era.
And yes, I think the complicated irrationality of many of the rules (see: registration) ensures that no matter how hard you try, you’re always going to be in violation of something. And I think that that’s intentional.
5 June 2008 at 11:08 pm
W. Shedd
I would say it is the nature of all bureaucracies to invent reasons for their necessity. Government and bureaucracy almost never contract, they only grow and create sometimes irrational justifications for their growth.
In that sense, I do think there is a mindset in all governments, and particularly post-Soviet governments, to create mindless bureaucracy and for people in those jobs to preserve their positions.