Forbes accused NTV of undermining its authority

The management of the Axel Springer Russia publishing house, the publisher of Forbes, accused the NTV television channel of deliberately discrediting the magazine.

On June 9, on NTV, in the program “Emergency. Review of the Week,” a story was shown that talked about the placement in Forbes magazine on a paid basis of untrue information about a certain Sergei Solovyov.

“At the same time, the story uses materials from unauthorized video filming carried out by an unidentified person on the territory of the publishing house,” the statement says. “The story does not contain comments from the Axel Springer Russia publishing house, which publishes Forbes magazine in Russia.”

The May issue of Forbes magazine featured the material “Portrait of a Modern Politician” - supposedly an interview with St. Petersburg resident Sergei Solovyov, published as an advertisement and with the advertiser’s contacts. This text said that Solovyov is a successful businessman, although in fact he is an employee in a commercial company. According to Solovyov, his wife, having read this material in the magazine, accused him of hiding his billions from his family, took the children and filed for divorce. He told Izvestia about this at the end of May. Solovyov stated that he was the victim of a hoax and filed a lawsuit against Forbes to publish a refutation and compensate him for moral damages in the amount of 5 million rubles. The situation was widely covered in the tabloid media , culminating in a story on the NTV channel.

“The material about Sergei Solovyov, published in the May issue of Forbes magazine, was placed on the basis of an agreement with Regional Center LLC as advertising material, as evidenced by the corresponding mark “On advertising rights.” This advertising placement was paid for by non-cash payment based on the invoices in full accordance with the terms of the concluded agreement. The material contains the name and contact information of the advertiser. Considering this, as well as the presence of an appropriate note about the advertising nature of the material, it is obvious to the readers of the magazine that the publication is an advertisement. According to current legislation, the advertiser is responsible for the content of advertising materials. ", comments the press service of Axel Springer Russia.

According to the publisher, the current situation can be characterized as artificially created by the media and aimed at discrediting the reputation of a respected publication, “a planned action to undermine authority ... carried out in the Soviet style.”

Axel Springer Russia is now considering options for further legal action, the publishing house said in a statement.