Russian Press

I never thought I’d live to see the day when the Russian press was freer than our own. Carey Goldberg’s report, “Old Habits Die Hard for Kremlin Propagandists” (Dec. 27), told how the Russian military was unable to control both the input and output of the media covering the Chechyna offensive. It seems that the Russian media is telling it like it is.

The last three times the U.S. was engaged in military action, Grenada, Panama and Iraq, our media was controlled by the military and except for a few weak bleats of objection the American public couldn’t have cared less. I guess when we were fighting the Cold War we cared more for Russian freedom than we did for our own.

LARRY SHAPIRO

Rancho Mirage