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"Tolstovesky"?? Never heard of that word, and Google is no help. Perhaps you could explain what it means. You claim the media is uninterested in energy policy

"Tolstovesky"?? Never heard of that word, and Google is no help. Perhaps you could explain what it means. You claim the media is uninterested in energy policy in Russia, but the scientific and technological media is very interested in such things, and HN is read mainly by techno-geeks who are also, and so we have lots and lots of links to articles from such sources.That includes global surveys that include Russia, and tech innovations from countries all over the world. And these stories includes complex nuances and try to be objective. So if anything was actually happening in Russia, you would see it here. But you don't and if this is not due to a conspiracy, then you need to come up with another explanation, and you can't. As to why I am focusing on renewable energy, it is because you yourself linked to a wikipedia article on that very topic that, as I explain below, says very clearly that very little is going on in that area in Russia. As to asking for replies, I ask that partly to make sure I have understood you properly.

ivan_gammel 10y ago
"Tolstoevsky" is the new project of Russian artist Dmitry Vrubel, who now lives in Berlin (and created the most famous his work "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" on Berlin Wall), based on surnames of Russian writers Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I've used this word just as a metaphor of slices of Russian culture known and popular on the West - the White part of picture of Russia, that usually consists of bad rulers and good people. Regarding the media, the lack of news in English is surprising a bit, because I see here and there that something indeed is going on and can confirm it by examples of projects I'm aware of (and likely there are more that I'm not). I can see the simplification bias in general media, which can be explained by lack of interest to post-Soviet Russia (and I've seen publications explaining this with reduced financing of research of Russia in USA - one of the reasons why events in Ukraine were a big surprise for US government). As for scientific and technological media, one of the reasons can be the obscurity of Russian science and inexperience of the government in PR. I cannot find any traces of Buribay solar plant launch in non-Russian or-non solar energy media - how exactly could that happen? I can suggest only that such events and their coverage is not sexy enough for HN/Wired/whatever to be remembered or even discussed. And this project is not small, behind it are very strong businesses like Renova and Rusnano. Can you offer any other explanation beyond "nothing is happening"?
- woodandsteel 10y ago
  Ok, I now see that there are some positive things going on in Russia, but that is because the last day you finally started posting some links that actually proved it. I tend to believe negative views of Russia because its government is, overall, so awful, so it would seem to me unlikely it would be doing anything positive in that area. And there is also the matter of the Putin direct quotes on global climate change. Which leads me to ask you, what is the media in Russia, which says what Putin tells it to say, saying about global climate change nowadays?
  - ivan_gammel 10y ago
    Media landscape in Russia is as complicated as everywhere, so I usually try to reconstruct the full picture from publications in business media - Kommersant (neutral, oldest quasi-independent media holding), Vedomosti (originally started by Financial Times, but sold to Russian investors, has light opposition flavor), Expert (in last 5 or 6 years got strong pro-Putin bias, but because of target audience is not filled with propaganda). All TV and radio stations in Russia do not worth any attention because of their strong bias. I also try to verify the interesting publication by reading official press releases and local newspapers (when some new project is completed, it may not receive major federal coverage, but it will be a notable event for locals or professional media). I do read state media sometimes, because they do not publish 100% lie (and even opinions quite often make sense), but I usually double-check their facts. It's not normal way to read news today, but I've been working as architect of media sentiment analysis software for some very high-profile customers (not Russian) in 2000s and have some analytical habits since that time.
    - woodandsteel 10y ago
      Interesting answer, but I see I should have been more specific in my question. I want to know what the TV and radio stations are saying about global climate change. That is because they are puppets of the Putin government, and so I assume that whatever they are saying about GCC is what the Putin government believes, or at least wants the public to believe.

ivan_gammel 10y ago

"Tolstoevsky" is the new project of Russian artist Dmitry Vrubel, who now lives in Berlin (and created the most famous his work "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" on Berlin Wall), based on surnames of Russian writers Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I've used this word just as a metaphor of slices of Russian culture known and popular on the West - the White part of picture of Russia, that usually consists of bad rulers and good people. Regarding the media, the lack of news in English is surprising a bit, because I see here and there that something indeed is going on and can confirm it by examples of projects I'm aware of (and likely there are more that I'm not). I can see the simplification bias in general media, which can be explained by lack of interest to post-Soviet Russia (and I've seen publications explaining this with reduced financing of research of Russia in USA - one of the reasons why events in Ukraine were a big surprise for US government). As for scientific and technological media, one of the reasons can be the obscurity of Russian science and inexperience of the government in PR. I cannot find any traces of Buribay solar plant launch in non-Russian or-non solar energy media - how exactly could that happen? I can suggest only that such events and their coverage is not sexy enough for HN/Wired/whatever to be remembered or even discussed. And this project is not small, behind it are very strong businesses like Renova and Rusnano. Can you offer any other explanation beyond "nothing is happening"?

woodandsteel 10y ago
Ok, I now see that there are some positive things going on in Russia, but that is because the last day you finally started posting some links that actually proved it. I tend to believe negative views of Russia because its government is, overall, so awful, so it would seem to me unlikely it would be doing anything positive in that area. And there is also the matter of the Putin direct quotes on global climate change. Which leads me to ask you, what is the media in Russia, which says what Putin tells it to say, saying about global climate change nowadays?
- ivan_gammel 10y ago
  Media landscape in Russia is as complicated as everywhere, so I usually try to reconstruct the full picture from publications in business media - Kommersant (neutral, oldest quasi-independent media holding), Vedomosti (originally started by Financial Times, but sold to Russian investors, has light opposition flavor), Expert (in last 5 or 6 years got strong pro-Putin bias, but because of target audience is not filled with propaganda). All TV and radio stations in Russia do not worth any attention because of their strong bias. I also try to verify the interesting publication by reading official press releases and local newspapers (when some new project is completed, it may not receive major federal coverage, but it will be a notable event for locals or professional media). I do read state media sometimes, because they do not publish 100% lie (and even opinions quite often make sense), but I usually double-check their facts. It's not normal way to read news today, but I've been working as architect of media sentiment analysis software for some very high-profile customers (not Russian) in 2000s and have some analytical habits since that time.
  - woodandsteel 10y ago
    Interesting answer, but I see I should have been more specific in my question. I want to know what the TV and radio stations are saying about global climate change. That is because they are puppets of the Putin government, and so I assume that whatever they are saying about GCC is what the Putin government believes, or at least wants the public to believe.