Russian journalists under shadow of corrupt, authoritarian regime 

A Johnsen is probably right to take me to task for veering off script by citing statistics relating to suicides in Sweden, although some Swedish experts in this field question his assumption that the long winter days may be a factor.
However, I also need to take the writer to task for seeming to infer that one would need to tune into the Russia Today (RT) channel to learn that life expectancy in Britain has declined. In fact this issue was widely and prominently reported in all the mainstream British media, prompting an open and animated debate on the likely underlying causes. I think it very unlikely that RT would have given equal coverage to the shocking fact that the average life expectancy for Russian men is 11 years shorter than for British men, and to the demographic crisis which Russia faces, although perhaps A Johnsen can confirm otherwise.
The writer is proud of the equality and freedom which are such notable features in the Scandinavian democracies, even if some of the gloss has been rubbed off in Sweden by recent violent clashes linked to the government’s liberal immigration policies, so why therefore this seeming admiration for Russian media outlets? The Western media’s reporting is not always entirely reliable, but at least it is largely free from government interference and control. By contrast, journalists based in or linked to Russia have to operate under the shadow of a corrupt and authoritarian regime that has scant regard for human rights and freedom of speech.
I’m happy to occasionally refer to RT and the rest of them, but do so with caution. 
Robin Grant
Bangkok