Endemic disease

of the Press or of protests by Media-MOST about illegal actions by government agencies, or about libels spread by the Federal Security Bureau, which showed on air a bugging device and 'spy data' which in fact had never been seized from Media-MOST. TVC has gone to court and won; NTV is also suing the FSB, ORT, and RTR for libel and may well also win. However, the court victories of TVC have remained without consequences, and any 'victories' won by NTV are unlikely to be more helpful. The president promised to be rigorous, and if he were suddenly to leave the oppositional press in peace he would be breaking that promise: we can rely on him to fight on to the bitter end. Whose end that will be — the end of our democratically elected president or of those sections of the press he finds awkward — is still far from clear. •