On Russian TV, It Isn’t All About the Strongman

Since rising to the top in 1999, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister and presidential comeback aspirant, has wielded power by commanding the television screen as surely as he does the security apparatus. But on the eve of the March 4 presidential elections a restive yearning for change is in the air.

Many Russians who dread the prospect of another 6 years — or maybe even 12 — of Putin have taken to the streets, or at least to Twitter. A march in central Moscow this month lured tens of thousands despite blistering cold. A concentrated dose of Russian television — still where 70 percent of Russians get their news — shows that the ferment is too big to ignore: The Kremlin-loyal networks that at first airbrushed out the protest movement are including it in their newscasts. Now, brisk updates on voter fraud, anti-Putin rallies and opposition candidates share a news hour with long, choreographed tableaus that showcase Mr. Putin as prime minister, hard at work inspecting factories, raising pensions, scolding lazy bureaucrats, and doing what it takes to preserve stability and spread prosperity. He has taken to publishing long mission statements for Russia’s future; each one is framed on the news like a tablet from Moses. For viewers the effect is bipolar: a little bit NPR, a little bit North Korea.