#6278
[Second Issue of the Day]
#8
KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA
May 28, 2002
NTV has climbed in a mouth to president Bush
Larisa Havkina
On the weekend the NTV provided a footage featuring President Putin and President Bush signing the Treaty. At the solemn moment George Bush with the relaxedness so characteristic of him suddenly took the chewing-gum out of his mouth. A funny episode resulted in a violent reaction in the American press. Several leading newspapers, including "The Washington Post" scolded the NTV for "naturalism" and "tactlessness" in regard to the guest of honor and reminded the TV company of its earlier split (They claimed allegedly something was really wrong with the freedom of speech in the NTV company. Some of them went as far as to voice suppositions that the channel must have received orders from the Kremlin to discredit the US President. According to them, such TV coverage might strongly impair the Russian-American relations.
Yet, the NTV company wasn't the only one to have provided coverage of the historic moment. The episode with the chewing-gum was filmed by all the existing TV companies. As for news agencies, they didn't hesitate to disseminate the news about the American President feeling quite at ease and having no complexes. The "compromising" moment was demonstrated by only the NTV company, though. In such a situation the American journalists should have pointed a blaming finger at other TV channels for having " chewed" the "chewing incident" but the fact that other TV companies removed the episode in question from their programs was obviously regarded by "The Washington Post" as political tactfulness.
We contacted presenter of the "Namedny" TV program Leonid Parfyonov who didn't miss the opportunity to comment on G. Bush's manners in his Sunday program, either. "The only thing I can do is to just shrug my shoulders," Parfyonov said in surprise. " It seems to me, that the "Washington Post" isn't free enough if it considers that such an everyday and habitual gesture might impair the Russian-American relations. What exactly might impair the relations, I wonder? Is it the fact that the American President is chewing a gum while on an official visit to the Kremlin or that he is taking it out when being addressed or that this was broadcast by the NTV?"
Back to the Top Next Article
- Back to the Top -