Waiting for Putin
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:38 am
The old pecking order has been confirmed: since the Crimean crisis, Russia's President Putin is once again the world's number one villain! Even the Olympic Games were no help. Putin refutes every PR insight that a good reputation is everything. Sometimes a little power is more.
My own experience with Putin dates back eight years. In russia rcs data the summer of 2006, I was invited to the international publishers' congress in Moscow as "personal" editor-in-chief. It was just after ten in the morning when guests from all over the world were waiting in the Kremlin for the head of state's welcoming speech. But he took his time. Instead, the association secretary, I believe an Englishman, loudly demanded more press freedom in the host country from the stage. Afterwards, an orchestra played Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
Ten, twenty minutes, a full hour. And still Putin was nowhere to be seen. Shortly before eleven, the current Tamedia publisher, sitting a few meters in front of me, lost his temper and stomped angrily out of the huge hall. The orchestra continued playing until Putin appeared on the stage, seemingly out of nowhere. Then things happened quickly: three people - presumably sympathizers of the Chechen freedom movement - tried to shout the president down. They were immediately knocked down by security officers who rushed to the scene and dragged out of the hall. An embarrassed, intimidated look away. Putin, seemingly unaffected, waited on the stage until calm returned. A little later, he announced in an emotionless voice that freedom of the press was precious, but economic freedom was far more important. Now the publishers reacted courageously. Their applause was very restrained.
My own experience with Putin dates back eight years. In russia rcs data the summer of 2006, I was invited to the international publishers' congress in Moscow as "personal" editor-in-chief. It was just after ten in the morning when guests from all over the world were waiting in the Kremlin for the head of state's welcoming speech. But he took his time. Instead, the association secretary, I believe an Englishman, loudly demanded more press freedom in the host country from the stage. Afterwards, an orchestra played Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
Ten, twenty minutes, a full hour. And still Putin was nowhere to be seen. Shortly before eleven, the current Tamedia publisher, sitting a few meters in front of me, lost his temper and stomped angrily out of the huge hall. The orchestra continued playing until Putin appeared on the stage, seemingly out of nowhere. Then things happened quickly: three people - presumably sympathizers of the Chechen freedom movement - tried to shout the president down. They were immediately knocked down by security officers who rushed to the scene and dragged out of the hall. An embarrassed, intimidated look away. Putin, seemingly unaffected, waited on the stage until calm returned. A little later, he announced in an emotionless voice that freedom of the press was precious, but economic freedom was far more important. Now the publishers reacted courageously. Their applause was very restrained.