Municipal authorities in Moscow have appealed to the Duma, the government, and President Putin to restrict the number of television programs that are having a negative influence on young people, lenta.ru reported on 23 October. Education Department Chairwoman Lyubov Kezina declared that contemporary television is "enemy No. 1 for teenagers." The city government sharply criticized the programming on all the national television channels, and Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov was quoted as saying, "Television, like our society in general, tends toward extremes." "Our proposals have nothing to do with limiting the activities of journalists," Luzhkov said. "But freedom of speech must be accompanied by an acknowledgment that society cannot be suffused in murder, sadism, and sex."

...and Karelia wants more good news

More than 1,000 residents of the Karelian city of Segezha have signed a petition to the State Duma demanding legislators ban violent or pornographic films and programs on television, ITAR-TASS reported on 22 October. The Karelian legislative assembly has expressed support for the demand and added that television news programming should reduce coverage of crimes and disasters and broadcast more news about economic progress in the country instead. The body has formed a working group to draft amendments to the federal mass-media law to be forwarded to the Duma.

(RFE/RL 25.x.02)