Articles by Mikhail Gorbachev, Kaarle Nordenstreng, Reino Paasilinna, Jukka PietilÃinen, Andrei Raskin, Andrei Richter, Elena Vartanova, Ivan Zassoursky and Yassen Zassoursky. Press, radio, and television - the media of mass communication - were the main vehicles of glasnost which augured perestroika in the mid-1980s. The media have continued to play a crucial role in Russian developments throughout the transition period, while the media themselves have undergone a drastic change. This change parallels what happened in the other post-socialist countries, but in many respect the Russian media present a unique case. This volume begins with a testimony of Mikhail Gorbachev himself, who is advocating media freedom but also paying respect to Vladimir Putin. Current media structures and characteristics are then presented by the dean and four scholars of different generations from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University. Their insiderÂs view is complemented at the end by an outsiderÂs view from the neighboring country - by the Finnish co-editor together with a Finnish Member of the European Parliament. The chapters provide both factual information and argumentative perspectives about the Russian media, which almost by definition have been under constant challenge. The media in any country today constitute a moving target, which is difficult to profile in a durable way. Yet the main picture of the Russian media saga can already be written, and this volume presents a first draft to that effect. Appendix material includes the most recent statistics for newspapers as well as a full translation of the 1991 media law of the Russian Federation.