VOA标准英语2009年-Debate Over Media Freedoms Emerges in Russ

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
18 September 2009

 
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (f) and Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (b)
Two recent high-profile articles are making news in Russia this month; one is a frank and widely distributed assessment¹ the country's current and historic problems by President Dmitri Medvedev. The other article alleges² that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was behind a series of apartment bombings in 1999 in order to consolidate³ power in the name of security. But the U.S. publisher of that article has withheld⁴ its release in Russia.

Mr. Medvedev's article, entitled, Go Russia, has been widely distributed online and in print. It outlines Russian corruption⁵, lack of economic diversification⁶, demographic decline and authoritarian⁷ traditions.

The American publisher of the other article, Conde Nast, has not released it online or in the Russian edition of the U.S. men's fashion magazine GQ were it was printed. 

The author, American investigative journalist Scott Anderson, alleges Russian security forces, not Chechen terrorists, bombed apartment buildings in several cities 10 years ago to frighten and then rally people behind Mr. Putin's promise to keep the country safe against terrorists. 

Mr. Putin was still relatively⁸ unknown at the time. An independent translation of the article, titled Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power, has appeared on the Internet. Russian officials have previously⁹ denied similar allegations.

President Medvedev says in his article that modern information technologies offer unprecedented¹⁰ opportunity to develop political freedoms such as freedom of speech and assembly, even if the ruling class resents the transparency that comes with such liberties. 

Russian human rights advocates, however, accuse the Kremlin leader of hypocrisy¹¹. They point to continued bureaucratic¹² harassment¹³ and outright¹⁴ murder of investigative journalists who criticize powerful Russian officials. Activists¹⁶ also consider GQ's refusal to distribute its controversial article in Russia as a form of self-censorship aimed at protecting corporate¹⁷ profits against possible reprisals¹⁸. 

Yevgeniy Khlov is information director of the For Human Rights organization in Moscow.

Unfortunately, says Khlov, it must be said that the West during the rule of Stalin, Brezhnev and now Putin protects its interests by submitting to the rules of the game set by totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, not only in Russia, but also in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

GQ's Moscow office declined VOA's request for a comment on Khlov's criticism. Magazine representatives said earlier that Anderson's allegations were old news in Russia and did not warrant further attention.
 
Political analyst¹⁹ Masha Lipman of the Moscow Carnegie Center says the decision to limit distribution of the GQ article made an official Russian argument against a free press easier.  

"The Russian government ... Russian officials are saying that things may not be ideal in Russia with press freedom, but they are not ideal elsewhere either," said Lipman. "And if the management of a publication may actually limit the distribution of a sensitive article in other countries, I think that it portrays²⁰ them as pragmatic, maybe cynical²¹, but certainly not as proponents²² of press freedom." 

The Secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists, Nadezhda Azhgikhina told VOA members of the organization have hopes President Medvedev will expand media freedoms in Russia. 

Azhgikhina says there are already a fair number of hard-hitting investigative publications which feature very interesting material. She says there are also independent regional television stations, which stand out amid the monotony of national state channels. She notes that unfortunately officials do not act sufficiently²³ on the information presented.

President Medvedev's article recognizes the need to develop and exchange information in Russia and provides the Kremlin email address for citizens to share ideas about solving the country's problems. But Yevgeniy Khlov says individual e-mails to the Kremlin represent the illusion of a discussion or choice. He characterizes the failure of President Medvedev to debate his opponents in last year's presidential election as a scandal, and calls for a competitive public exchange of ideas between officials and members of the opposition²⁴.

Khlov says the fundamental issues of domestic and foreign policy in Russia are not debated; those who oppose the official point of view are not allowed to speak, to develop their positions or participate in a discussion. The activist¹⁵ says that realistically, there is no freedom of speech in Russia.

Nadezhda Azhgikhina of the Russian Journalist's Union says she does not have enough information to pass judgment²⁵ on GQ's decision to publish or not publish an article highly critical of Prime Minister Putin. But she says the more discussions there are about press freedom in Russia; the sooner the country can experience a genuine social dialogue. 

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

3 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

4 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 diversification   

n.变化，多样化；多种经营

参考例句：

• The seminar was to discuss diversification of agriculture. 该研讨会讨论的是农业多种经营。 来自辞典例句
• Firm diversification is increasingly achieved by the means of takeover and merger. 通过接管和兼并，厂商经营范围日益多样化。 来自辞典例句

7 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

12 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

13 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

14 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

15 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

16 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

18 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

20 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

22 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

23 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

24 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

25 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。