From David Remnick’s long, very long, article in the new New Yorker about Echo Moskvy and editor in chief Alexei Venediktov, we get an inside look into Russia’s most interesting and unique media outlet, which some have described as the country’s last remaining “pressure release valve” (it is indeed 60% owned by Gazprom). See also more about Venediktov’s strange experience in front of Vladimir Putin over here. My only complaint about this interesting article is that Remnick makes Yevgenia Albats sound like a nutcase, which is unfair and inaccurate – at least she understands why the Kremlin still allows Echo to continue existing…

At the meeting in Sochi, Putin turned his attention—and his icy glare—to Aleksei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, criticizing the station for its broadcasts about Georgia. Many of the loyalist editors in the room were delighted as they watched Putin rough up Venediktov on a range of editorial and factual points. Not for the first time, there was the sense that Putin might shut down the station. Later, in a hallway, Venediktov protested to Putin that he was being “unjust.” Putin pulled out a stack of transcripts to underline his points, saying, “You have to answer for this, Aleksei Alekseevich!” Venediktov was shaken, but he calculated that Putin would never have invited him to Sochi with the rest of the delegation had he intended to get rid of him or Echo of Moscow. That could have been accomplished with a telephone call. “Afterward, we met one on one, and there Putin’s tone was more positive,” Venediktov told me. “But he made his point. He was demonstrating his ability to do whatever he wants with us at any time.” When Venediktov returned to Moscow, he made clear to his staff that they had best “pay careful attention” to their coverage, be sure of their facts, and get sufficient government views. But no one was fired, and it was clear that he had managed to escape the worst. “Poka,” Venediktov said. “For now.” (…)