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TIME.com: A bizarre struggle for control over Russia's NTV network appears to have pitted the Kremlin and its cohorts against an assortment of Russians of different political stripe, and even Ted Turner. Journalists have barricaded themselves inside the TV station after a Kremlin-backed group moved to seize control of NTV, in which Turner has expressed interest in buying a share. And Muscovites are planning a huge demonstration Saturday to back the journalists against a perceived takeover by the state. What are the implications of this battle...
...which unlike most Russian newspapers actually has a nationwide reach, under his control. So he's been slicing away at NTV all year, using all manner of economic pressure and police investigation to erode the network's independence and bring it under the control of elements sympathetic to the Kremlin. Yet, when Putin tries to make a bold authoritarian move, he reveals himself to be an inexperienced leader with an inexperienced team, and that's landed him in a mess over...
...People close to the Kremlin have all but admitted in the last few days that their move on NTV is politically motivated. They've justified this on the basis that they see NTV as a rival political party rather than simply a news outlet. So, for example, the Kremlin accused NTV of lying about the sinking of the submarine Kursk, whereas in fact they did some rather good reporting on the incident. So why are they in a mess...
...worse, the Communist Party, which hates NTV, has now swung round to support it against the takeover, because one of the men Putin has put in charge is an American, Boris Jordan. It's like he was trying to see how many toes he could tread on simultaneously. The Kremlin has alienated a number of different constituencies in one, not very fell swoop...
...possibly can. Turner's well-known lack of admiration for Alfred Kokh and Jordan, the men placed in charge in the clumsy Kremlin-backed bid for control, is probably one of the things undermining the government's position. The government understands that if he buys 45-49 percent of the stock, he wants nothing to do with these guys - and that undermines their position even before he buys anything. So if Turner buys in - if the government allows him to - then NTV could be saved. While I don't believe Americans or anyone else should be running other countries' media...