Newspapers, like this one in Kazan in the Lenin Gardens below Kazan State University, were a common sight in the Soviet Union. Now, few such opportunities to read the newspaper free remain. Unfortunately, many Russians do not have enough discretionary income to maintain subscriptions to newspapers or magazines. At the same time, newspapers are now published on a commercial basis. The end result -- many Russians find other sources of news.

This newspaper is being ignored by most of this crowd in St. Petersburg in favor of a new fountain. This scene was photographed on WHAT Street, just off Nevsky Prospekt, which the city has recently converted into a pedestrian mall.

An aging, yellowed newspaper goes unread in a "bedroom" district of St. Petersburg. Whoever placed it on this out-of-the-way side street had to suspect it would find few readers.