Editorial opinion from US reader

I thoroughly enjoy reading PRAVDA! My visits to the Website , while not daily is regular nonetheless.

I would have been better off however, had I not started scanning the "Forum", which I consider an insult to the History and reputation of PRAVDA, which has been the top news source for all things Russian for longer than most of us have been alive. (Regardless of who now owns it).

When most people think of Russia, they instinctively think of such things as the Space Program, the Kremlin, and Russian History, an educated population, with outstanding Manufacturers such as Sukhoi. Clicking onto the Forum I was appalled by the vulgar language, hatred and diatribe by posters like "Reven", and bottom-feeders who obviously have to travel halfway round the World to find a site that will endure them.

The constructive criticism which I expressed to Zhurnalist in one of my few posts, is that if I were Webmaster, I would cull the whole lot and upgrade the Topics to promote a civil discourse. Topics of more cerebral appeal - seeding them with intelligent exchanges to hopefully attract more. There is a Science topic now, and that is certainly a step in the right direction to my way of thinking. Zhurnalist is a great asset, a resource that shouldn't be wasted responding to degrading insults and outright hatred.

There is a tendency in some quarters to be oversensitive to the idea of deleting objectionable content, but I can tell you that there existed no more ruthless monitoring than was done by CNN in the USA. Maintaining a civil dialogue isn't "repression". Occasional pruning and upgrading is healthy for plants - and for Webistes too.

Thanks Rachel