Toeing the line I t is a remarkable fact that for
the last half-century the Guardian has had no Moscow correspondent. Since the depar- ture of the great and good Malcolm Mug- geridge, the Guardian's reporting of Soviet affairs has often brought to mind the wise rabbi's response: 'Rabbi, can one build socialism in one country?"Yes, my son, but one must live in another.' So we have fe.ilowed keenly the progress of the Guar- flew Moscow correspondent, Mr Martin Walker. In last Saturday's paper, Sr Walker used the occasion of Svetlana Stalin's press conference, from which all Other British newspaper correspondents were excluded, to praise Soviet news man- agement. While conceding that this par- ticular conference was a mite restricted, • Mr Walker avers that 'in the last year, the sophistication of Soviet news management has improved dramatically. The process began with the hi-tech press conference on the Soviet version of shooting down the Korean airliner, complete with charts, maps, audio-visuals and the Chief of General Staff standing up to face ques- tions. It was a performance open enough to give Britain's Ministry of Defence a few lessons — their news management of the Falklands War stand in glaring contrast.' Aah-h-h-h-h. True, Mr Walker goes on, Western correspondents still have to live in 'special ghettos. . . with policemen on the doors.' But by comparison with ten years ago, the foreign press is getting access and freedom and a considerable degree of privilege.' Mr Walker's conclusion is a gem, a jewel without price, a vivid metaphor encapsulating a profound histor- ical insight. 'It is a sign of the slow, steady opening of this society,' he writes, 'that the Kremlin stands with one hesitant toe in the chill, refreshing river of Western-style free- dom.' Why, and since the river, though 'chill', is nonetheless 'refreshing', and since the 'opening of this society', though 'slow', is nonetheless 'steady', we may confidently expect that the Kremlin will soon be up to its long woolly underpants in 'Western- style freedom'. Meanwhile, the Guardian should arrange for his immortal sentence to be read back down the telephone to Mr Walker on the first of each month, for as long as he remains in Moscow.
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