The bad news about Vladimir Putin's first year in power is that he has shown a consistent desire to curb independent media. The more reassuring news is that he is making a hash of it so far, at least. Over the past year the full force of the Russian state has been concentrated on Media-Most, the owner of NTV, the one independent TV station with a near-nationwide reach. It has been raided dozens of times, founder Vladimir Gusinsky is in Spain fighting extradition and other executives have fled the country. Judges have consistently ruled against NTV or quickly changed...
