Kelly Toughill, a former Toronto Star reporter and current instructor at the School of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, finds herself in some surprising discussions with Russian students about what real “freedom of the press” means back in the motherland.

A few of my students in Russia did believe in the possibility of a free press, though not all who did were sure that a free press is a good thing. When one student asked if I thought Russia should have a free press, I turned the question back on her. “Do you want a free press?” I asked her. She was quiet for several moments. “It is dangerous to want a free press in Russia,” she said. “Just to want it?” I asked, “Or to actually do it?” “It is dangerous just to want it.”