Breaking two taboos

Most remarkable about the murder of Paul Klebnikov was that it broke a taboo in Russia against attacks on Western journalists. But this is somewhat less remarkable given that Klebnikov, unlike most other Western journalists in Moscow, wrote in Russian for Russians. In the CR, too, few Westerners write in the local language for the locals. This keeps a distance between them and their subjects. Many prominent Czechs aren't interested in what's said about them in the foreign-language media - only the Czech press matters. With EU entry, though, this is changing. Czechs are starting to pay more attention to the foreign media. This seems to be one reason why oil baron Karel Komárek is planning an English-language newspaper for later this year. This breaks another taboo: Up to now, foreign-language publishing has been mainly the domain of foreigners. Forbes Moravské naftové doly