The commentators                    02-03-15

...on Boris Nemtsov

Nemtsov, a major opposition politician, was killed because of his speeches against Russian President Vladimir Putin, his anti-corruption investigations and his key role in Russia’s opposition politics. To speak of this barbaric act as having taken place independently of the Kremlin would be to ignore the murder’s setting. Red Square is always guarded by scores of uniformed and plainclothes officers.
- Sergei Guriev, Financial Times
Within minutes of the murder, the pro-Putin operation and its pliant media were running theories that implicated almost anyone but the Russian president. Mr Putin deplored the death of Nemtsov and pledged to do everything to apprehend his murderers. For some time now the parallels between Putin’s Russia and Italy’s first decade under Mussolini have been suggesting themselves ever more strongly.
- David Aaronovitch, The Times
Natalia Anatova
In a city where thousands recently marched in opposition to the Ukrainian protest movement – a literal protest against a protest, and in a foreign country, no less – some holding banners demanding “purges,” the idea that an actual purge has occurred is still difficult to confront.  
- Natalia Anatova,  Guardian
Maybe Nato should think beyond Ukraine and try to forge some relationship with Russia. This weekend, that seems remote. European Russia could, or should, be part of Europe. Then we would all benefit from a serious bulwark to protect against future threats that are already on the horizon.
- Michael Pelly, Independent
Boris Nemtsov’s murder, which has shocked Russia, is the result of the war that has been under way for the past year. The war’s location is far broader than the area of military operations in east Ukraine. It covers the whole of Russia and the former USSR.
- Grigory Yavlinsky, Financial Times
The collapse of the Communist system was largely bloodless. Let’s not assume that the collapse of post-Communist Russia would not send shockwaves westwards. In 1991, the nuclear arsenal passed peacefully to the Kremlin’s new masters. Who will control them after Putin? Will they be easier to deal with? Whoever murdered Boris Nemtsov wanted to kill hopes for a cosier future between East and West.
- Mark Almond, Daily Telegraph
Picture
Up until five or ten years ago, it would not be unusual for editorial to throw out or move an ad if it sat uncomfortably with the news on a given page. That tended to be in everybody's interests: BA no more wants its ad on a page devoted to an air crash than the journalist placing the story. This may still be the case, although I suspect that these days pressure would be on editorial to reposition the story rather than the other way about.
If so, that is an example of fissures starting to appear in that dividing wall. If a story, however insignificant, has to move from its optimum position in the paper because of advertising considerations, a line has been crossed.
A layman's guide to the relationship between editorial and advertising

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