Dangerous Ignorance
Structural Deficiencies in the Coverage of Eastern Europe
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
German print media are reporting less and less about post-Soviet Russia. When they do, then it is about Vladimir Putin, corruption, or the girl group Pussy Riot. Editors rarely take on background stories about society and culture, let alone from the regions. Because of financial constraints and bureaucratic hurdles, correspondents in Moscow are able to report on their realm – an expanse stretching from Kaliningrad through the Caucasus to Central Asia and Vladivostok – only from their desks. Superficiality and incorrect assessments are the result.
(Osteuropa 4/2012, pp. 3–8)