This book is required reading for everyone interested in post-communist societies, theories of transition, and global trends in the media. Rantanen provides by far the most complete survey of the media in Russia in the last decade, and her analysis scotches some very widely held myths. In particular, her study shows that television in Russia is not completely dominated, as many have argued, by imported programs from Latin America, but features increasing numbers of popular programs produced inside the country itself. Rantanen is clearly right to argue that the lesson of the Russian experience is the continuing importance of the national dimension to the mass media.

Colin Sparks, University of Westminster

Addressing globalization, media, political transition, and Russian studies, Terhi Rantanen's important book contributes to the discourse in a number of different fields. The argument is clear and well-supported.

The Russian Review

This text contributes significantly to the discussion and theories of globalization and new communication technology in post-communist Russia.

Southern Communication Journal

Terhi Rantanen has produced a giant of a little book that contributes to debunking many theories of the globalization of media and communications that continue to hold sway in academia. I wholeheartedly recommend this work to anyone interested in Russia and in post-communist evolutions and media studies; it should be required reading for any graduate class that focuses on international media and communications system.

Peter Gross, Slavic Review