Get Out of Moscow!
An Appeal for a Different Kind of Reporting on Russia
Moritz Gathmann, Stefan Scholl
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
German correspondents in Russia are almost all accredited in Moscow. This shapes their view of the country. They barely perceive what is happening outside the metropolis – or do so only through Moscow-influenced lens. Since Kremlin politics remain opaque in Moscow as well, the supposed advantages of proximity to the political decision-making centre do not exist upon closer examination. Instead, correspondents should go to Krasnodar, Krasnoiarsk, and Vladivostok, where they could report on a very different Russia.
(Osteuropa 10/2011, pp. 77–82)