Results matching “russian editor”

Prosecutors following through on the government's promise to crack down on journalists threatening "information attacks" on the economy have received criticism from the editor of an Internet news portal.

Aksana Panova, editor of www.ura.ru, accused Russian authorities of "censoring bad news about the financial crisis" after she was brought in for questioning about her sources, calling the government interference a "throwback to the Soviet Union."

National Public Radio has ended its eight-month search for a full-time CEO with Vivian Schiller, the current senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com.

Beginning January 5, Schiller will succeed Dennis L. Haarsager, interim CEO, to work with NPR's independently operated member stations.

Calling NPR "among the nation's most vital and trusted news organizations, unique in its original programming and distinctive voice," Schiller continues what has been an extensive career.

Former senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, and former senior vice president of CNN Productions, Schiller, 47, began her career as a Russian interpreter and produced documentaries for Turner Broadcasting.

Source:  Editor and Publisher

For the second time this year, Russian newspaper Moskovskiy Korrespondent was shut down.

Chief Editor Sergey Varshavchik said he doesn't expect the paper to continue being published, reported Lenta.ru. According to him, Moskovskiy Korrespondent does not have enough financial backing from investor Alexander Lebedev.

Earlier this year, the paper was temporarily shut down after it published a "scandalous" article about an alleged love affair between former Russian president Vladimir Putin and gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

Source: Lenta.ru

The Chief Editor of the Russian Vesti TV channel, Dmitriy Mednikov, reported that the increasing role of the Internet in producing content would require media outlets to rebuild their business model and methods for producing content.

"We have committed $25 million over five years to the Knight News Challenge because we believe in media innovation through experimentation," says Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation's president and CEO. "Each winning project is an experiment with the potential to transform how we practice journalism in the digital age."

The Federal Mass Media Inspection Service accused the St. Petersburg edition of Russian daily newspaper Novaya Gazeta of advocating hatred towards Georgians, warning the paper that it risks being shut down if it defies the media and extremism laws again.

Russian Authorities in charge of mass communication and protection of cultural heritage (Rossvyazkomandzor) called to attention the need for national media to remain within legal boundaries, in light of the recent events in Dagestan when a newspaper was shut down for supposedly promoting extremist views.

Rossvyazkomandzor pointed out that it is necessary that the media conform to the Russian Federation law that dictates that it is forbidden to use "sources of mass information" to release content that contains signs of agitation over social, racial, national or religious backgrounds. If journalists fail to do so and adhere to diffusing extremist content, "steps will be taken", reported gipp.ru.

Nadira Isayeva, editor-in-chief of Dagestan's independent weekly paper Chernovik, was accused of soliciting extremist views and prejudice. The paper quoted guerilla chief Rappani Khalilov, who accused the local the regional authorities in Dagestan and Chechnya of "corruption, robbing his fellow countrymen and enslaving themselves to the Kremlin," reported the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Robert Mahoney, CPJ's Deputy Director, said that it isn't illegal to quote guerilla leaders, mentioning that the authorities should drop the charges against Isayeva and permit her "to work "without fear of retaliation".

"There is no such law in Russia that prohibits quoting extremist leaders, and the quote--as well as the entire article--contains no calls to extremism, does not give a positive image to terrorists, nor does it incite any kind of hatred," said Aleksandr Verkhovsky, director of Sova, an independent Moscow-based watchdog for nationalism and xenophobia.

Source: gipp.ru, CPJ

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Russia: Authorities close Chernovik for extremism

A newspaper in the Republic of Dagestan has been close down by Russian Authorities. Russia's Prosecutor General said on Wednesday that Chernovik has spread extremist views in its newspaper.

The statement, published on the Office's website, accused the newspaper of "lionizing terrorists and prompting the reader to conclude that Russia's constitutional order must be overthrown." It also says that, "The text of the article distorts the religious situation, calling for 'heads to be cut off infidels' and banning the reading of religious texts in Russian." Dagestan is a largely Muslim country.

Nadir Isayev, Chernovik's editor, declared that "one of the pillars of democracy is an independent media which can criticize the authorities" and insisted that his newspaper was not promoting militant Islam and was just following an independent editorial agenda, according to Reuters.

Russian Authorities closed other newspapers and website for similar reason in recent years.

Source: Reuters

The Russian government continued its repressive oversight of the press Thursday, raiding the Moscow offices of the Exile, an English-language newspaper, accusing the paper of violating a media law prohibiting the publication of extremist articles.

The Exile was reputed for its strident criticism of the government, and infamous for its bold, occasionally lewd content, but it has lost several investors as a result of the investigation and now lacks sufficient publishing funds.

"It's like we've got polonium on us," said Mark Ames, the Exile's American editor. "Who will want to touch us now?"

The Exile has never been afraid to stir a little controversy; Ames' frequent articles about his late-night encounters bordered on misogynistic. And though the paper was well respected for its sharp, critical news coverage of the Kremlin, critics claimed its coarse style was out of place in Russia's maturing society.

"I find it really offensive," said Ames. "They resent the fact that we did something that wasn't supposed to be done. I'm sorry that a lot of people seem to want to dance on our grave."

Under new president Dmitry Medvedev, many Russians hoped for a more open news climate than had existed under Vladimir Putin, Medvedev's more conservative predecessor. This, however, has not been the case. During Medvedev's first month in office, the Kremlin has increased its raids on independent media organizations.

The Exile's future looks grim: the paper is struggling to keep its website alive and Ames says its print version is extinct.

"The paper's gone," he said. "It's dust and there's now way to get it going again."

Note: Russia is not alone in limiting press expression. Some of its neighbors - Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan - have introduced measures designed to restrict criticism of the government. Though the details of the measures vary in each country, all of them blur the line between the press and the government. Click here for specifics.

Also watch of video of Garry Kasparov, leader of the political party The Other Russia, speaking at the 15th World Editors Forum.

Source: Telegraph, Follow the Media

During a speech at the 15th World Editors Forum in Goteborg, Sweden, Garry Kasparov, leader of The Other Russia, an opposition political party, addressed subjects such as press freedom and the political climate for journalists in today's Russia.

Immediately following his address, Vladimir Sungorkin, the editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the number one tabloid in Russia stood up and invited Kasparov to speak in Russia about these issues. The video shows Vladimir's offer being translated by Eugene Abov, the general manager of GIPP, the Association of Independent Russian Publishers.

According to Kasparov, the atmosphere in Russian newsrooms is one of caution because of the current political situation in Russia. The murders of Russian journalists such as Anna Politkovskaja have received great media coverage outside of Russia. But according to Kasparov, these cases did not receive the same attention in the Russian press.

You can also see the coverage on the website of The Other Russia, which picked up the video.

More video reports from the World Editors Forum here.

Svetlana Mironyuk, Editor-in-Chief of Russian news agency, Ria Novosti, joined Session 2 at the 15th annual World Editors Forum to speak about her company's radical transformation to a completely integrated newsroom.

Mironyuk explained how the news agency had plans to reorganize its newsroom over one year ago. Those plans changed immediately after she visited the 14th World Editors Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, and heard several case studies of successfully integrated newsrooms. She crossed her fingers on the plane home, hoping that the construction workers that were supposed to start reorganizing the newsroom would arrive late.

Fortunately, they did, and Ria Novosit's team was able to decide over night that they would scrap their original plans and launch an integrated newsroom.

Ria Novosti's transition has been very fast. Three and a half years ago, the agency didn't even have a website. Now, it's journalists are competent in multimedia and work in an innovative newsroom.

Because of space problems, the newsroom is on two floors, but the floors are in constant contact with one another through large screens and news tickers that display the latest news the agency is producing. There is also a public address system that is used to announce top priority breaking news across both floors.

This new newsroom layout created many advantages for the newsroom. Journalists now interact more and are more effective. There are more opportunities to exchange information within the newsroom and there is more competition between journalists. Perhaps the most advantageous aspect of the new newsroom is the increased speed with which journalists react to news.

Mironyuk said that the change in newsroom created a change in focus. Instead of being a primarily b to b content producer, the news agency began producing directly for consumers. They launched many new projects such as fashion sites, financial literary information sites, and social networking.

Journalists in the Ria Novosti newsroom are now encouraged to look for stories, not just for news. Instead of simply performing multimedia, they think it. Their new strategies have helped the agency to increase its revenue by 50% in one year.

BBCWorld Service has teamed up with blogging platform Livejournal.com for Live Report, a global project that provides a blogging platform for the Russian-speaking blog community. This project aims to strengthen user-generated content, connecting bloggers with the BBC Russian website bbcrussian.com.

Stephan Grootenboer, BBC World Service business development manager, Russia, said, "The BBC is keen to expand engagement with social media and reflect user-generated content in its output. Partnership with LiveJournal manifests the changing nature of BBC Russian as it uses new platforms to reach its audiences. With Live Report project, we are breaking new ground which will help us reinforce links with Russia's vibrant and quickly growing blogging community."

There is now a BBC-branded area on Livejournal, which will link the blogging community to stories on bbcrussian.com. Users can read the stories, then return to Live Report to post comments, articles, photos, videos, etc. on their blogs.

The BBC will also keep their eye out for budding reporters, no matter their location, and select the most compelling blog posts for publication in its output.

"We hope their contributions will bring us news and insights that are often bypassed by mainstream journalism. This new community will present us with witness reports and personal views from across Russia which may be selected for publication on bbcrussian.com and the BBC's other international news and information websites," said Zoya Trunova, editor of bbcrussian.com.

Livejournal has over 9 million users per month and over 1.5 million registered accounts in Russia. The community has 365 new members since last month's pilot launch of Live Report.

Source: Media Network

On the morning of March 21, Ilyas Shurpaev, a 32-year-old reporter for Russian State TV Channel One who had moved to Moscow from Dagestan (a semi-autonomous Russian republic), was found stabbed and strangled in his Moscow apartment. Hours later, 58-year-old, Dagestan State Radio and TV Chairman Gadzhi (Gaji) Abashilov was machine-gunned near a shopping mall in the Dagestan capital Makhachkala.

The Moscow Prosecutor General ruled that Shurpaev's death was not linked to his professional activities of working as Channel One's Northern Caucasus reporter. But by Friday, police assumed that both killings relate to the victims' professional activities, reported Russia Today and AP.

Hours earlier, Shurpaev had written in his blog that his name had appeared on a blacklist of journalists barred from publishing in a Dagestani newspaper. Nastoyashcheye Vremya by RAI Novosti is the name for the "battle going on between journalists and the founders" of a Dagestani newspaper, which Shurpaev also wrote about in his blog.

Apparently, journalists were forced to write negative reports about Dagestan's government and president, according to Russia Today. Svobodnaya Respublica regularly publishes articles that criticize Dagistani leaders and other figures. Journalist Zaur Gaziev was beaten the same day his article mentioning Abashilov.

Ilyas Shurpaev wrote "nice" pieces on monasteries and salmon fishing, but because he wrote them in Dagestan, Chechnya and other parts of the north Caucasus, he was considered "dissident."

Gaji Abashilov had been editor of a local weekly newspaper Molodyozh Dagestana and still wrote a regular column and had hosted a TV show. In 2002 the Dagestan Bolsevik Party unsuccessfully sued him for defamation after a column was published suggesting the local Bolsevik's were neo-Nazis.

Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, whose investigation of murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya led to the arrest of four suspects, is personally investigating Abashilov's murder.

After his beating, Gaziev said to Novayagazeta, "...all is possible in Dagestan. Your foe's foe might organize such an attack to cross him up".

Source: Follow the Media