As Mr Putin was conferring awards on representatives of the media, he stressed that tremendous political and economic changes would be impossible in Russia without its free mass media. Many of journalists being decorated had worked in Chechnya.
A total of 48 Russian journalists received state awards – four of them the Order of Valour and one the Order of Honour.
See also
Opening Address at a of Conferring State Ceremony Awards on Journalists
September 11, 2001