Russian media hesitates over coverage

Russia's state-dominated media was slow to interrupt regular programming to provide coverage of last week's Beslan tragedy, Francesca Mereu reports in the Moscow Times.

Mereu writes, "When the biggest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001, was coming to a tragic end on Friday and the world was holding its breath about the North Ossetian children held hostage, the two main state-owned Russian television channels did not interrupt their regular programming.

Channel One and Rossia continued showing a film and a documentary while CNN, the BBC and EuroNews were broadcasting live pictures of half-naked and bloodied children running terrified through the streets of Beslan, thirstily grabbing water bottles."