It’s impossible to ignore this topic. So I’ll weigh in too. Especially since I know Zhenya well. E.M.A. is a radio show host. I understand that it will annoy her that I’m calling her program this, but it is a radio talk show. As far as I know, one with strong ratings. It’s an author-driven radio show. Biased. In the sense that the host has a clear position on every issue under discussion. That position is expressed in a fairly vicious manner. That’s what the show is built on. That’s its style. That’s why people listen to it. For example, I host “Urban Development Chronicles” on Echo (Echo of Moscow, a Russian radio station). It’s completely biased. I criticize the Moscow city government. Well, that’s because I make a program about the things City Hall does wrong, in my subjective opinion. It’s a show for bashing City Hall. In every other episode, E.M.A. speaks to guests in an extremely aggressive manner, with plenty of attacks. I’ll repeat: that’s what the radio show is built on. If you don’t like it, switch to some oldies station. E.M.A. is a distinctly left-liberal journalist. Have you read Michael Moore’s books? Go read them. Albats can’t even compete. And then there’s Leontyev. He’s a right-wing journalist. Doesn’t he act rude on air? To listeners and interviewees? Even more so. Much more. That’s why people listen. That’s why his appearances on “Echo” get huge ratings. If you don’t want to, don’t listen. “Poor little Arutyunyan.” Not poor at all. If you write an article like that, be prepared for it to provoke emotions. And that’s exactly what it did for one liberal journalist, who decided to tear another journalist to shreds live on air. To everyone’s delight and with excellent ratings. Fully in keeping with the style of the program. Look at how hosts behave on other shows, some of which claim to be objective. Solovyov very often takes the side of one of the guests. Just remember how he and Svanidze ganged up on Platonov over the South Butovo issue (a controversial Moscow housing and redevelopment conflict). Even though neither of them understood the subject in the slightest. As for the talk show on Channel One, there’s hardly anything to say. They simply silence anyone who says something not approved by the wise comrades from the Presidential Administration. The whole show is structured like a beating. And that’s fine. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. Hosts and producers make programs the way they see fit. It’s not the news, after all. About harassment. I don’t see any problem with harassment either. Civil society. The program got under everyone’s skin, so now everyone is writing about it, including in E.M.A.’s comments on LiveJournal. Should E.M.A. be harassed? Yes! She goes after people on air. Those who want to go after her do it on LiveJournal. The main thing is that everyone should have the opportunity to go after everyone else. Within the bounds of current law. The off-air conversation. It’s not that I don’t believe Zhenya could have said something like that. I absolutely believe it. So she said it. So what. If I posted everything people say to me (including the bloodhounds of the bloody regime), I’d have been a “tysyachnik” (a LiveJournal user with 1,000+ followers), part of the LiveJournal elite, long ago.