Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-254) and index.

The development of media systems in Russia has had a central role in the shifting tides of politics and economics, argues Zassoursky (director, Laboratory for Media, Culture, and Communications, Moscow State U., Russia). Focusing on the past ten years, he addresses different aspects of the role of media in Russian society. He first describes the evolution of the media system. He also argues that the shift towards television from the newspaper mirrored the shift from reliance on theory to emotion. His former employer is examined as a case study of newspaper operations and the impact of the Internet is examined. Translated from Rekonstruktsiia Rosii. Annotation #160;2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.