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Earlier today, Tatyana Felgenhauer, a radio presenter for Russian news station Ekho Movskvy, was stabbed in the neck in her newsroom. Officials are unsure of the motive, but conclude that it was likely a personal attack. Russian news agency Interfax says that Felgenhauer knew the alleged attacker and the attack had nothing to do with her journalism, though RIA Novosti (used to be Russia’s international new agency) backs what Russian police have said about the attack being personal.
Boris Grits, the attacker, claims that he has “I’ve only known the victim telepathically for 5 years,” and that Felgenhuaer has “been sexually harassing me for 2 months. Every night, using telepathic means of contact, she entered and sexually harassed me” (Moscow Times).
Many journalists, however, believe that the attack was caused by the growing hostility of Russia’s political climate. The editor in chief of Ekho, Alexei Venediktov, supports this claim by citing the arson attacks in response to the movie based on Russia’s last czar (Nicholas II).
8 comments:
Most of the media in Russian is controlled by the state. The station that this journalist worked for was a state run channel, and they had recently attacked a radio station of criticizing the Russian government. Although the motive of this attack is thought to be personal, as Claire mentioned in her post, people are suspicious because recently other members of the same station have been under attack. Another woman from the same station recently left Russia because of threats. Although this attack might not be political, the violence surrounding Russian media reflects a major difference between our media culture and theirs.
This is an odd event, and judging by the statement of the attacker, it seems clear that there this man had something else going on inside his head. It definitely seems like a personal attack because he clearly stated that he felt harassed by the woman so I believe it is unlikely that this was a reaction to the political climate.
I agree that this was definitely thought to be a personal attack by the attacker and that he clearly seems mentally unstable and in need of psychological attention. But I agree that this incident does seem suspiciously linked to political motives, since, as Lydia said, majority of the media in Russia is controlled by the state, so the attack could be personal and politically motivated. I believe to halt all these attacks Russia needs to take immediate action but if the attacks are motivated politically, there is a slim chance the Russian government will respond to the public the way they wish based on their present and past leadership within the government.
I think that whether or not this attack was personal or political, it still brings light to an important issue of state controlled media (censorship) in general. When Putin came into power, he slowly gained control of each main TV station to the point where he now has direct influence over most of the mainstream media, in addition to agreements with lesser known independent media. In the US, it's hard for us to really comprehend as our nation is now characterized by our free press and their ability to openly criticize our government. An article from huffpost states that many Russian journalists don't actually mind the media being state-controlled, which is very interesting to me as free press is a liberty that is so critically valued in american society. Whether or not it's true, it's interesting to me to make this distinction between being a journalist in such differing situations and whether or not Russia will ever gain the extent of free press that we have here in the US.
I think that this attack seems politically motivated because... telepathic sexual harassment? What? Anyways, I agree with everyone else in regards to this article highlighting the differences in media standards and differences in freedoms between Russia and America. The fact that the Russian government is pointing towards the idea that the attack was personal may be indicative of their intentions as they are steering all attention away fro the possibility that the attack may have been politically motivated, but I'm not entirely sure.
I thought that telepathy had to do with thoughts, not physical aspects but ok... I personally do not think that this had to do with politics. I genuinely think that the attacker is mentally ill and should be given medical treatment.
The attacker definitely feels like he has some mental issues to work through with a therapist and if he felt personally attacked by the girl it was a personal attack, but it is true that Russia has much less freedom than America does so the government act very differently.
I think the attacker is clearly mentally ill judging on describing the reason for his attack. He needs some mental treatment. In his head, he thought he was harassed by her telepathically so he stabbed her which makes no sense to me. I doubt this attack was politically motivated, but if it was I see both sides. Russia and America differ in terms of government and freedoms so if it was politically motivated, the Russian government will respond appropriately. The way the article describes it makes it seem that it is ambiguous because the Russian Press almost ruled it out completely.
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