How Does One Explain 'Fisking' in Russian?

This morning I delivered a 45 minute talk to 100 or so Russian journalists and politicians about the role of blogging in politics and the media. It all seemed to go off OK, although I don't mind admitting that it was a bit odd having simultaneous translation. Anyone who has seen me speak at this sort of thing will know that I try to inject a bit of humour into it - especially if it's a talk lasting for 45 minutes, followed by another 45 minutes of questions. But humour very rarely translates very well, and even if it does, you have to wait a bit too long for the punchline to come.

When I do talks like this I always know if they have gone OK by the quantity and quality of the questions which follow. Today's were exceptional. I was particularly taken by a question about so-called 'killer blogs'. In Russia blogs are often set up with one aim in mind - to kill off a politician's career. There are no real libel laws here so you can make any allegations you like on a blog and the subject of the attack has little means of redress. I explained that this sort of blog doesn't really exist in Britain and that if I wrote on my blog that a politician had been caught having sex with a sheep, I would be sued. I think it got a little lost in translation. I went on to explain the concept of 'fisking' and 'twitter'. At this point the translator had a nervous breakdown.

We talked a lot about online trends of the MSM and how journalism was likely to develop. They were also interested in the dangers of blogging, especially for politicians. Other questions included...

* How do you build an audience?
* How often do readers provide me with tipoffs?
* How are blogs regulated?
* Aren't blogs just about auto eroticism and washing dirty linen? (!)
* Do I take money to write blogposts? (No!)
* Do advertisers require me to plug their products or viewpoints? (No!)
* Is blogging a business or a mission?

The organiser came up to me later and told me that one of the female participants from Siberia had told her that my presentation had "changed her life". At this point I realised that not only must the translator have had a nervous breakdown, but must also be taking halucenogenic drugs!

The place where the conference is being held is about 40 miles south west of Moscow in the middle of some woods. It used to be a sanatorium. The various blocks have now been turned into accomodation units which are basic but comfortable. The main thing is that they have wifi!

Tomorrow I am being taken into Moscow where we'll have a look round Red Square, visit St Basil's and no doubt gawp at Lenin.