Propaganda

The BBC reports that two of Vladimir Putin's "key media advisers" are putting together a 24-hour English-language television news channel, to improve Russia's image in the world. Former Information Minister Mikhail Lesin is one of the prime movers (the other is Putin spokesman Alexei Gromov), and the report comments that "the project has been a long-standing aim of Mr Lesin, who once warned that Russians - in his words - 'must do propaganda for ourselves - or else we'll always look like bears'."