Translated material
Dear editors against
Journalists consider the change in the editor -in -chief of the editor -in -chief of the editorial office and the violation of the media law.
The editors of the online publication "Lenta.ru", where the editor-in-chief Galina Timchenko was replaced today, made a statement in which she criticized the decision on this personnel permutation:"Dear readers!
Today, March 12, the owner of the company "Afisha -rambler-Sup" Alexander Mamut fired the chief editor of Lenta.ru Galina Timchenko. Aleksey Goreslavsky, Deputy General Director for External Communications, was appointed new editor -in -chief.
Unfortunately, this is not a regular castling, so some explanations are required. We believe that this purpose is a direct pressure on the editorial office "Lenta.ru". The dismissal of an independent editor -in -chief and the appointment of a controlled person, including directly from the Kremlin cabinets, is already a violation of the media law speaking about the inadmissibility of censorship.
Over the past couple of years, the space of free journalism in Russia has dramatically decreased. Some publications are directly controlled from the Kremlin, others - through curators, others - editors who are afraid to lose their jobs. Some media are closed, others will close in the coming months. The trouble is not that we have nowhere to work. The trouble is that you seem to have nothing more to read.
We certainly assumed that they would come for us.
We believe that this is not forever. In any case, you, dear readers, should know about it.
We hope that before the ambulance meetings.
Your dear edition. "
The statement is the signatures of dozens of employees. At least some of them announced their intention to leave the editor.
Earlier on Wednesday, it became known that Galina Timchenko, editor -in -chief of Lenti.ru, was leaving his position. According to her, Alexander Mamut, the owner of the Afisha Rabler-Sup, made the decision to dismiss, which includes Lenta.ru.
Timchenko, who led the publication since 2004, will be replaced by Alexander Gororevsky, who served as deputy general director for external communications of the Afisha Rabler-Sup. Prior to that, he headed the Internet Sit Glaz.ru.
The news of the change in the editor -in -chief was preceded by a message about the “tape” of the warning of Roskomnadzor, who accused the publication of posting an extremist material.
We are talking about an interview with Ilya Azar with the head of the Kyiv branch of the Ukrainian Movement "Right Sector" Andrei Tarasenko, containing a link to the material of the leader of the movement of Dmitry Yarosh: "Soon or later, but we are doomed to fight with the Moscow Empire." (In accordance with Russian legislation, two written warnings during the year are the basis for applying to the court to terminate the certificate of registration of the media).
Svetlana Reuters is one of those journalists who intend to leave the editorial office of Lenta.ru. She answered several questions of Radio Liberty:
- The statement that appeared on the “tape” means that all the signers leave the “tape”?
- I cannot answer for the whole team. I can only answer for myself. I'm leaving. And this is due to the fact that the shareholder asked for dismissal ... that is, he asks, he demands - not only that the editor -in -chief, who suited everyone, Galina Timchenko, but also my colleague in the department, special correspondent Ilya Azar, who worked out Crimea. As for me, I quit. As far as I know, many of my colleagues are of the same opinion, that is, they also leave.
- Who wrote this letter?
- This is a collective letter, we all wrote it.
- At the same time, you discussed who leaves, who does not leave?
- There were some emotional reactions in people, but nothing more. If someone decides to stay ... I do not want to put in the idiotic position of colleagues who will suddenly want to stay. It seems to me that in this situation, which has developed, despite the fact that the condition for the dismissal of not only the chief editor, but also the special correspondent of Ilya Azar, a rather talented person, it seems to me that everyone should leave. But I do not want to put anyone in an idiotic and uncomfortable position. Someone decided to leave, someone may decide to stay, and this is their decision.
- What is the basis for the assertion that the appointment is direct pressure on the editor?
- In fact, everyone has long known in Moscow and in the Russian Federation that "view.ru" is an absolutely pro -Kremlin resource. And the simple logical chain allows me to assume that the person who made the absolutely pro -Kremlin resource is a person controlled from the Kremlin.
“Have you tried to somehow contact Mamut, find out his position?”
- Today we had a certain editorial board, a certain fly, on which Alexei Gororevsky was represented. We asked him to make us a meeting with the investor, directly by Mr. Mamut, so that we could ask him some questions. The questions are: why did it take a decision on the immediate - and this was really immediate, one -day, quite fast, like in American cinema, with the packing of boxes - the dismissal of the chief editor? We would like to know what such swiftness is due to. Because, as far as I know, the traffic "Lenta.ru" is growing, it was the most popular Internet media in the country. And we want to know why all this happened, why we are put in such a situation. We asked for a meeting with the investor and us. Whether it will be arranged, time will tell. If it is arranged, then these questions, I hope, we will ask.
- Was you given an answer?
- Yes, of course, a very polite answer that he will try to help us and arrange this meeting. We were also invited to stay in workplaces. To which I personally said that if my colleague Ilya Azar does not work, then the issue has been resolved for me.
- Your statement says that the space of free journalism has decreased. Do you consider any options for yourself where you could go?
- There is the only place where I can go. I will not call it, because you never know what, suddenly it also collapses. But for myself I see one single place. And in principle, there are fewer, less and less independent publications, in Moscow, less and less. The space has been cleaned for the last year or two. The departure of Maxim Kovalsky from OpenSpace, for example, the Rain TV channel. I can list endlessly, and we write about it endlessly. And now they themselves ended up in a situation that they would write about. This is quite uncomfortable, I would say so. It is one thing to visit, and another is to be in such a role.