The situation sounded ridiculous to the 89 journalists who work for Russia's most famous independent radio station, Echo of Moscow, and to many of its 7 million listeners across the country. Circumventing Echo company policy and going over the editor in chief's head, Gazprom-Media, the company's main shareholder, fired one of Echo's most respected hosts, Alexander Plyushchev, and ordered security not to let journalists into their office Friday morning.