For a second, I was confused as to which coutnry's press corp they were describing:
The Kremlin press pool is a handpicked group of reporters, most of whom work for the state and the rest selected for their fidelity to the Kremlin's rules of the game. Helpful questions are often planted. Unwelcome questions are not allowed. And anyone who gets out of line can get out of the pool.
...Television channels air newscasts with fancy graphics but follow scripts approved by the Kremlin. Elections are held, but candidates out of favor with the Kremlin are often knocked off the ballot. Courts conduct trials, but the state almost never loses. Parliament meets but only to rubber-stamp Kremlin legislation.
One of the Russia experts they interview describes it as the "illusion of democracy" which kind of sounds like what we've got here - we've got the dramatic music, the fancy graphics, the polished and attractive news anchors, it MUST be democracy, right? Kind of like Fox News...
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