Condoleezza Rice's visit to Moscow is a "dress rehearsal for completely turning off the microphone"

On April 21, 2005, Gazeta.Ru columnist Natalia Gevorkyan published an article “Lost in Translation,” where she criticized Russian media coverage of the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“At first, the Russian television viewer was not told what exactly Mrs. Rice said on the plane and immediately after arriving in Moscow ,” writes N. Gevorkyan. “ By the way, she spoke about the restriction of democratic freedoms in Russia. Very opportunely at the moment when she said these unpleasant things, a bomb was allegedly planted in her hotel, so all the attention of television ... was concentrated on the fight against terrorism."

On the second day of the visit, Russian electronic media "briefly reported that Ms. Rice... was concerned about freedom of speech in Russia in general and on the Russian Internet in particular." And when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lavrov, noted that when talking about the infringement of freedom of speech, specific examples are needed, Rice “specially emphasized that when she spoke about problems with freedom of speech in the ‘electronic media,’ she meant television.” The Secretary of State, writes N. Gevorkyan, “understood exactly who and why made a mistake with the translation, and insisted on an amendment, which, to Mr. Lavrov’s obvious regret, was broadcast.” On the same day, C. Rice said that at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, she managed to achieve improved American access to Russian nuclear facilities, and S. Ivanov denied this information.

In general, the US Secretary of State has received a clear idea of ​​the level of freedom of speech in Russia, N. Gevorkyan believes. “They tried to shorten and edit the Secretary of State in accordance with the information policy of state television broadcasting,” the author concludes.

Sources

• Gevorkyan N. Difficulties in translation // Gazeta.Ru. 2005. April 20.