Are you serious?

Journalists denied their presence to the State Duma in connection with the decision of the ethics commission not to punish deputy Slutsky for harassing female reporters

The RBC holding was the first to announce this, it was supported by Kommersant, Dozhd, Ekho Moskvy, etc. Both RBC's statement itself and the act of journalistic solidarity can cause nothing but satisfaction. Well, thank God, colleagues understand that there is a line that cannot be crossed, and if one of us is humiliated, it means that everyone else is humiliated. And if in our macho society - look at the photos of the government, the Presidential Administration, the collegiums of almost anyone except the Ministry of Health, ministries - free treatment of young women is a sign of almost masculinity, then journalists should not only write about it, but also be the first to go to line of attack.

Just one question: are you serious?

And nothing before you, colleagues, in the structure of our power and the same Duma did not resent? For example, we recently had elections. Or rather, their imitation, during which our entire country of 140 million was denied the adult right to choose its own president - they left only the opportunity to come, put a tick and throw a ballot in the ballot box. Didn't hurt?

Or: right now, right now, Leonid Volkov, head of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters, is serving 30 days in a temporary detention center in Moscow: he was imprisoned for retweeting a video about Navalny’s detention at a rally on January 28, calling it “a repeated violation of the rules for holding rallies.” Didn't get excited?

Or: the editor-in-chief of a powerful newspaper was fired, which regularly made investigations about the president's family, including the unexpected and incredible enrichment of the alleged spouse of Putin's alleged daughter. As a result, the newspaper stopped doing such and other investigations, dozens of journalists left the holding, claiming that there was censorship in the newspaper, on the website, and on the TV channel. That is a direct violation of the law, and the constitution, and the rights of readers. And the leadership of the holding did this, because it was ordered in the Kremlin. Has the journalistic pool stopped standing at attention in front of Putin? Started asking tough questions? Chief editors of other publications went to the AP to picket? And, by the way, what kind of holding was it?

I remember once I asked one intelligent person why our rockets, both Soyuz and Bulava, are falling endlessly? Answer: “Do you seriously think that in a country where they can’t build a road or make a decent car without stealing, they can make a reliable rocket?”

No, of course, journalism - indeed, any public profession - begins with self-esteem. And it ends with the loss of this very dignity. I would like to console myself: in the end, the first step is always important. Today, journalists have refused to deal with an institution that believes that it is possible to humiliate women because they want to. Tomorrow, will they refuse to deal with a government that considers it possible to humiliate an entire country by depriving its citizens of basic human rights? Then everything is serious. Oh how I wish I could believe it...

Journalism - indeed, any public profession - begins with self-esteem. And ends - on the loss of this very dignity