"Hatred is financed by the Kremlin"

Founder of Kommersant Vladimir Yakovlev - about his project "Mulbabar"

The founder and first editor of the Kommersant newspaper Vladimir Yakovlev, now living in Israel, announced this week the launch of a new project , an independent media. According to his plan, the new media will have to "find a way to confront the madness that breaks Russia to pieces and leads it to the edge of a terrible social disaster." The project is called "Mulbabar" - "Jupiter" in translation from the language of ancient Sumerians. The funds necessary for the start of work, Vladimir Yakovlev decided to be collected via the Internet, although now the Mulbabar page on Facebook is replenished with the materials of authors-volunteers who do not receive money for their work.

In an interview with Radio, Freedom Vladimir Yakovlev said that he had made a promise not to return to work in the media, but decided to break him after the murder of Boris Nemtsov. Yakovlev is sure: the main problem of modern Russia is the propaganda of hatred, for which the current Russian authorities are primarily responsible.

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Vladimir Yakovlev about the project "Mulbabar"

- What is this project? About what? For whom?

- The project is extremely simple. He has an extremely simple idea. It consists in the fact that Russia now really seized a wave of hatred. There are a huge number of hundreds of thousands of people who became her victims. This wave of hatred and propaganda of hatred is funded by billions of rubles and becomes a huge problem for the country. Therefore, the idea of the project is to first of all help those people who became the victims of this wave of hatred, to the extent that we can. As, in fact, I wrote in that post [on Facebook], from which it all began, that if they can create media that turn people into madmen, then why cannot we create media that turn the madmen back into people? Here, in fact, is the whole idea of the project.

- You say that this wave of hatred is financed by rubles, say the word "they." Who are they?

I think that today hatred is financed by the Kremlin. It exists at the expense of the state budget

- I think that today hatred is funded by the Kremlin. Because it is distributed by television, it spreads a large number of publications and it exists, of course, at the expense of the state budget, state subsidies, and state money.

- Opposition media also often receive such accusations in their address - in the spread of the hatred that you are talking about.

- I'm closer to the opposition. It is difficult for me to give you the answer that, in fact, I would like to give you. But if honestly, then it seems to me that hatred is now becoming a huge problem in itself, regardless of whether it is fair or not. If a person is ill with a flu or something more serious than the flu, then a person must be treated and helped. The second question is from whom he became infected. I have the feeling that now, regardless of justice and justification of positions, hatred in itself as a phenomenon becomes a huge problem for the country.

- You are wondering: if the pro -Kremlin media can turn people into madmen, then "why can't we turn them back into normal people?" If these madmen are an important and desired part of your audience, as it should, then how do they learn about your existence, will begin to read you?

We perfectly understand that with our capabilities we cannot compare ourselves with either Channel One or with Rush Tuei

- I, in general, are not an idealist, and those people who do this project today are also not idealists. We perfectly understand that with our capabilities, whatever we have, we cannot compare ourselves with either the first channel or with Rush Tuei, or with other such sources of information. We do this project not because we are able to contrast ourselves with that wave of propaganda of hatred that is now happening, but simply because we cannot but do it in the situation that has developed now. As we reach such people ... The Russian -speaking audience on the Internet today is 70 million people. This is a lot. So far, we will work with this audience, because on the other, we simply cannot work now.

- How will all this be arranged? What will it be-the community on Facebook, some kind of site, something else?

- The community will not be, but already exists, it is functioning . It is called "mulbar. Hatred is treated." In today's media space, in order to create an edition, you know, you need 10 minutes to open the corresponding page on social networks. The tools are available to everyone. Therefore, we have now begun with this and are already published [materials]. But the point is not even about the publication. Today, in the working group, which was created in order to invent what this resource will be, to invent some publications, write, take pictures, shoot, there are already more than 600 people who came to help to confront hatred and help. This is the most important thing. These are 600 writers, artists, journalists, filmmakers, creative people who can do a lot.

- Who, besides these people, will replenish your site, or at this stage a community on Facebook? Will they do it for free, for money or part like that, and part is like?

- Answering the first question - of course, that's it. We are ready to publish, and in the future to finance any content that contributes to the tasks of the project. As for money, now everyone works by volunteers - everyone does what they can. Will there be money in the future? Yes, everything is impossible to do for free. Therefore, we have now opened funds from Kikstarter and in the coming days will open on the “planet”, so that those people who would like to help in achieving our goal could do this.

- How do you feel after work by the editor -in -chief of Kommersant, with its budget, collecting funds on the Internet?

- Normally, very good.

- Let's get back to the concept. You are talking about cure for hatred. Is it possible, in your opinion, to write, for example, about politics in modern Russia for a Russian-speaking audience, given that almost every acute political statement entails some kind of disputes that sometimes in this very hatred? There is no contradiction?

- I do not think that there is a contradiction. Because the question is not whether to write or not write about politics, the question is how to write about it. Here I can only talk for myself, about my ideas, since I am not a chief editor or even an ideologist of this resource. I am the same participant as everyone else, just like everyone else, I come up with posts, headings, ideas and moves that I put on our page. My own posts are mainly reduced to a very simple idea: there are people who believe that the country will destroy the opposition, which the Kremlin rightly hates for this. There are people who believe that the country will destroy the Kremlin who rightly hates the opposition for this. It seems to me that the biggest problem and the biggest danger is not the Kremlin, and not an opposition, but fair hatred. So I think. Because by the number of hatred, by how much people hate each other today, I do not remember such times in Russia. And, in my opinion, it is very, very dangerous, very, very scary.

- Is it possible to say that "mulbar" is a kind of fruit of your nostalgia at the time of "Kommersant"? In general, the plot is similar to Hollywood films, where some retired special forces returned to the service later to confront a new unprecedented threat. Can I draw such an analogy?

According to Vladimir Yakovlev, he decided to return to the Russian media space after the murder of Boris Nemtsov

-"Rimbo-8" ( laughs ). I don’t know, you can draw any analogy. In fact, this is a sad topic. Because at one time I gave myself the word that I do not want to deal with newspapers and magazines anymore. I am engaged in the "Age of Happiness" project, it is kind, good, helps people. Recently, I just wanted to do this. What changed my attitude to this is the death of Boris Nemtsov, after which, it seems to me, not to participate in what is happening in the Russian media space is no longer possible. Therefore, call it as you want, but for me a dividing point was the murder of Boris.

- After the murder of Nemtsov to the crime scene, Anatoly Chubais came to the bridge. He said literally the following words: "We all need to stop - power, opposition, to everyone." One gets the feeling that he was saying something consonant with your words about mutual hatred, for which he was subjected to obstruction in an opposition, so -called liberal environment. Are you not afraid that the same fate is waiting for you?

- I don't know. I do not know how they will react to this, what people will say about this. I'm just saying what I think. In this case, I completely agree with Chubais. I believe that hatred in itself is becoming a difficult problem for the country.

-Are you going to somehow compete in the Russian-speaking information space. If so, who do you see theoretically your competitors?

- I'm not going to compete with anyone at all. This is a project of a completely different type. This is not the media in the old, previous performance. This is a project that does not have an editor, there is no edit, there is no right to publication. This is a project, which is a Seba, an open area that we promote and develop. The editorial policy comes down to what I said - we publish any content that allows you to objectively resist the promotion of hatred and help those people who have already become its victims. There is no other editorial policy.

- Who will determine which content corresponds to the performance of this task, and which - no?

- At the general level, I think it is quite easy. And at the level of how this thing works, each part of the specific content is simple - whether they read it, whether they look at it. Content that does not work to cancel a wave of hatred, it seems to me to learn quite easy.

- What is the result for you will be the success of this project, and what failure?

-I think that the result that is now is more than 600 people who came to work in a working group began to write, invent how to stop hatred, in my opinion, this is already success. I do not need another.

- When was the last time you were in Russia? Do you consider the opportunity to return here for a long time if any changes occur in the country?

- In Russia, I was the last time 4 months ago. I was born in Russia. Now my house is in Tel Aviv, I really love Israel, I really love Tel Aviv. I will come to Russia, to be, unless, of course, something changes in Russia, or if I understand that I can help in Russia with my stay in Russia.

Vladimir Yakovlev was the editor -in -chief and main owner of Kommersant from 1989 to 1999. In 2008, together with entrepreneur Mikhail Prokhorov, he created a “live!” Media group, one of the projects of which was the site Snob.ru. Recently, Yakovlev has been engaged in the site "Age of Happiness" about the life of older people. In the Mulbabar community in Facebook, about 3,500 subscribers today.