ABSTRACT
As I write these lines, in April 2007, I am in a rather strange mood, subject to mixed feelings and expectations. A week ago my office e-mail failed because, we were told, the server was somehow connected with the one at the Tnternews' NGO, and therefore had been 'arrested" along with all the documents and equipment of Internews after a sudden and unmotivated visit and search by police and prosecution officials. Internews 1 was the oldest and most prominent training centre for broadcast journalists in the country, educating hundreds of professionals throughout the Russian regions. Its subsequent closure after this episode stunned the media community. It was not involved in political campaigns, did not participate in PR activities, and was wholly devoted to education and training, promoting quality journalism, and committed to national-level broadcast initiatives. Although it had been criticised several times by the authorities and by President Putin for using Western aid, the same president had explicitly identified it at a recent public event as an important NGO leader. The official explanation for the search at the Internews office was that half a year previously its chief, Manana Aslamazyan, had not declared extra cash at Russian customs. However, in the view of many media professionals and intellectuals, this explanation lacked seriousness— a view supported by the Russian Union of Journalists, who published open letters in support of Internews.
