No static, no mystery !!

Russia has always been an enigma. 

Through their history and their literature they always seem so extreme compared to other European countries. Of course their European connection represents only part of their landmass and the stark nature of the Slavic character is influenced by the equally extreme nature of the climate, the enormous size and sparse terrain. 
The tundra represents, in our mind, an inhospitable environment into which the gulag expressed, in its worst form, the terrible mindset of the communists when dealing with dissidents. 

I was listening to old recordings describing the launch of the first women astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. 
With marshal music, and dogged no nonsense delivery, the accented voice, the crackly static background, all which emphasised our distance from Russia  far from our relatively cosy island existence. 

In some ways we are cheated, these days from feeling this "foreign" effect. 

All the broadcasts are carried over the internet and could be broadcast next door !!
If you watch the broadcasts from RT, the Russian overseas service or Aljazeera the Middle Eastern service, they are indistinguishable (apart from the ideological content) from CNN, SKY or the BBC. 

Youthful presenters and studio sets resemble each other, one could be anywhere and sadly no a static to create the mystery !!