When the president is asked about the same thing many times, it can hardly be called a press conference.

Ordinary human communication is simple: you asked and they answered. When a person is asked about the same thing almost ten times, not in a private conversation, but in the presence of thousands of journalists, at a press conference broadcast live by several central channels, this is already an action akin to bullying. One can assess the tone of communication at the last meeting of the leader of the nation with representatives of the press in different ways (I personally saw only the transcript), but this obsessive refrain alone speaks volumes: Putin was asked immediately about his attitude to the “Dima Yakovlev Law”, several times in a row , then this issue was returned to repeatedly, just before the finale Sergei Loiko asked about this in a particularly harsh form, after which at the end it was necessary to release on stage excessively loyal (well, if not specially trained) friends from the outback, ready with tears of love and delight in their eyes lick the bosses... informational wounds.

The simplest thing is to assume that the journalists were simply not satisfied with the answer, so they continued to ask about the same thing. In fact, the respondent constantly said that this law is not against our children and American adoptive parents, but specifically against the US authorities, who do not investigate crimes against adopted children, do not allow Russian citizens to consider these cases, even as observers, etc. At the same time, it is quite clear to everyone that this act directly and directly affects our children and their potential parents from the United States, but in no way affects the interests of the American administration. However, without this “childish” amendment, our law as a response to the “Magnitsky law” (symmetrical or asymmetrical, it doesn’t matter) turns out to be cartoonishly toothless, capable of only causing poisonous ridicule.

It is unlikely that those asking actually expected to hear some more intelligible explanation of this act. It seems that they were counting on repeated repetition of the same unconvincing formula, which is what they achieved. As well as losing balance on the verge of an explosion: at some point, Vladimir Vladimirovich, who again started talking about the crimes of the US authorities and massive violations of human rights in America, clearly lost his temper, switched to his signature obscene language and told the civilized world about “consistency”, in which has a crowbar sticking out.

But all this is only if we consider what happened in the logic of normal human communication. However, there are also special communication modes. For example, during interrogation. A person is purposefully asked about the same thing many times, trying to catch contradictions and see a hint of the truth in these semantic gaps.

At some point, they move on to other topics that are quite harmless, lull their vigilance - and then strike again with the same almost verbatim question. A kind of non-technical lie detector.

Our scout passed the test. He never got confused, didn’t blurt out too much or anything he hadn’t said before. Except about the crowbar. However, this repetition, in the absence of development and additions, also has its own information content. Conclusion one: the question was expected, the answer was not only prepared, but also rehearsed - reproduced several times in a row with almost tape-recording accuracy. Conclusion two: here it was important not only what to say, but also what not to talk about under any circumstances. In ideological communication theory, this is called “discourse thinning.” In particular, the topic of an “asymmetrical” response to the “Magnitsky Law”, which deputies and special propagandists are tirelessly chattering about, was completely absent. This means that at least with the ideological accompaniment of the Kremlin, they understand how wretched and dangerous this idea is to voice, and follow the example of the great schemer who founded the “Union of Sword and Ploughshare.” Children, and only children! And abroad we ourselves will help with human rights. The audience should think that it is not terrorists who are being tortured in American special prisons, but Obama’s personal political enemies. And whistleblowers of corruption in the US administration are being brought to light. It’s easy for them there, which means we can do it too.

Moreover, here we had the good fortune to observe in miniature the general socio-political configuration of late Putin’s Russia. It is already clear that the love of the creative class, and indeed all sane people capable of independent and critical thinking, cannot be returned. Therefore, you can sculpt anything without blushing, as long as it works for the passive, poorly informed and suggestible masses. Losing face is not scary - there is nothing left to lose. Here, too, there were two audiences at once: journalists, whose brains are practically impossible to freeze, and television viewers, primarily informal members of the “TV party.” Putin spoke simultaneously both to the faces of living people and to the television camera. One has long been a bad match for the other. And it won't end well.

A little over a year ago, Vladimir Vladimirovich was booed in the gym at a wrestling match. We were not ready for this; I had to say that it was our completely crazy sports fans who whistled at the defeated American.

It was a turning point. After the epoch-making match, visits to unprepared audiences stopped. At that time, the phrase was especially popular: there is a first time for everything.

This is exactly the case now. The comfortable format of live communications with the free press, in which Putin always felt like a fish among tadpoles, has ended. Of course, no one put their fingers in their mouths, but it was a collective deafening whistle.

New format of Putin’s communication with the press: interrogation with bias