In the final days of 1999, Konstantin Ernst prepared to film the Russian President’s annual New Year’s address, just as he had every December for several years. Ernst, who was thirty-eight, with floppy brown hair and a look of perpetual bemusement, had recently become the head of Channel One, the state television network with the largest reach, a post he retains today. The position makes him one of the most powerful men in Russia, with the ability to set the visual style for the country’s political life—at least the part its rulers wish to transmit to the public.
The New Yorker: The Kremlin’s creative director
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with the state-run television network Channel One general director Konstantin Ernst before his annual televised question-and-answer session with the nation at Gostiny Dvor (Merchant Yard) exhibition hall in Moscow, on April 17, 2014. Putin exuded yesterday self-confidence as he fielded four hours of questions in his traditional phone-in marathon, keeping open Russia's diplomatic and military options on the Ukraine crisis.
