June 11, 2008 By Robert Amsterdam

Russia’s “Stop List” to Airbrush Dissent from TV

The St. Petersburg Times has an interesting new article picking up where the New York Times left off with the amusing/frightening story of the Kremlin’s digital censorship of television commentator Mikhail Delyagin. Perhaps the prize line of the piece: “Senior government officials deny the existence of a stop list, saying that people hostile to the Kremlin do not appear on TV simply because their views are not newsworthy.” Wow. thestoplist061108.jpg In a still frame from video, the incomplete digital erasure of a Putin critic named Mikhail G. Delyagin from an episode of the program “The People Want to Know” can be seen. Mr. Delyagin’s leg and hand remain visible, to the right of the man holding the microphone. (Photo: ATV/New York Times)