Russkij reportior

«Русский репортёр» (Russian Reporter) was a Russian socio-political magazine that operated from 2007 to 2020. It was part of the Expert media holding and was founded with a $50 million investment by businessman Oleg Deripaska in 2006. The magazine was launched on 17 May 2007 with a unique strategy: it first appeared in four non-capital megacities—Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Samara—before reaching Moscow several months later. Its founding editor-in-chief was Vitaly Leybin, a journalist who had previously headed the online publication Polit.ru. The design was created by artist Mikhail Anikst. From its early issues, the magazine positioned itself as a publication for people who are not afraid of change, do not avoid responsibility, and prefer to define their own lifestyle, targeting the middle class. Its main format was reportage and photo reportage. The cover of the first issue featured a photograph by renowned war photographer Yuri Kozyrev. The magazine gained recognition for its in-depth journalism and photojournalism, participating in international exhibitions such as World Press Photo and Visa pour l'Image. In 2012, its photo service received six awards for photo editing at The Best of Photojournalism, a record for a Russian publication. Financially, the magazine faced difficulties, particularly due to the unprofitability of Expert-TV. In 2013, Vnesheconombank provided a 100 million ruble loan to the media holding. The magazine had debts to employees as late as 2019. Publication was suspended from July 2016 to February 2017 due to financial problems and lack of investors, but resumed on 27 February 2017 with a reduced staff and a focus on volunteering. In April 2020, the editorial team announced that the magazine had ceased operations for economic reasons, and all employees were let go. Some staff continued working on related projects such as les.media and the ANO «Русские репортёры». The magazine was also involved in controversies, including a 2014 arbitration court ruling that ordered its editor-in-chief and the head of Expert media holding to pay 44.4 million rubles for damage to the business reputation of the Institute of Human Stem Cells, and a warning from Roskomnadzor for using a word considered obscene. Despite its closure, «Русский репортёр» left a legacy as a significant platform for Russian long-form journalism and documentary photography.

«Русский репортёр» was launched on 17 May 2007, following a $50 million investment in the Expert media holding by businessman Oleg Deripaska in 2006. The magazine adopted a unique development strategy: it first appeared in four non-capital megacities—Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Samara—and only several months later in Moscow. The founding editor-in-chief was journalist Vitaly Leybin, who had previously headed the online publication Polit.ru. The design was created by renowned artist Mikhail Anikst. The cover of the first issue featured a photograph by famous war photographer Yuri Kozyrev. From its early issues, the editorial team positioned the magazine as a publication for people who are not afraid of change, do not avoid responsibility, and prefer to define their own lifestyle, targeting the middle class. The main format was reportage and photo reportage. In 2010, the magazine co-founded the annual All-Russian V. G. Mezentsev competition «Young Journalists of Russia». From December 2010, by agreement with WikiLeaks, the magazine analyzed and published documents in Russia. In 2012, the magazine began experiencing financial problems caused by the unprofitability of Expert-TV. In 2013, Vnesheconombank provided a 100 million ruble loan to the media holding. The management owed debts to most employees of «Русский репортёр» as late as 2019. From 2013 to 2015, a licensed version of the magazine called «Вести. Репортёр» was published in Ukraine by Multimedia Invest Group. From February 2015, the magazine became biweekly (previously weekly). From July 2016 to February 2017, publication was suspended: in July 2016, it was halted until November, with holding representatives promising to resume from the second half of November (later the situation was to be resolved by the end of the year). It was planned to change the concept, style, and workflow, and to switch from biweekly to monthly. From October, the magazine's website stopped updating; by December, most journalists had stopped working on the project, and the rest were on vacation. The reasons cited for the cessation were financial problems and lack of investors. On 14 February 2017, it was announced that the magazine would resume, and the new issue was published on 27 February. This happened thanks to the holding finding one-time sources of financing for several months; subsequently, it operated on targeted grants. The staff of «Русский репортёр» retained only editors and special correspondents Marina Akhmedova and Olga Timofeeva, and a search for its own advertising model was promised. The magazine became biweekly again, with volunteering as its main theme. In April 2020, the editorial team announced that the magazine had ceased operations for economic reasons, and all employees were let go. Some employees continued working on related projects, such as les.media and the ANO «Русские репортёры». The magazine was also involved in controversies: on 6 November 2014, the Moscow Arbitration Court ordered the editor-in-chief of «Русский репортёр» and the head of the Expert media holding to pay 44.4 million rubles for damage to the business reputation of the Institute of Human Stem Cells (ISKCH) over an article «Деньги на крови младенцев»; the parties eventually reached a settlement. On 10 November 2014, Roskomnadzor issued a warning to the editor-in-chief for using a word in a blog post that was considered obscene. Journalist Oleg Kashin called the magazine an imitation created by Vladislav Surkov.

• Oleg Deripaska invests $50 million in Expert media holding, leading to the creation of «Русский репортёр».

• First issue of «Русский репортёр» published.

• Agreement with WikiLeaks to analyze and publish documents in Russia.

• Financial problems begin due to unprofitability of Expert-TV.

• Vnesheconombank provides a 100 million ruble loan to the media holding.

• Magazine switches from weekly to biweekly publication.

• Publication suspended due to financial problems.

• Publication resumes with a new issue.

• Magazine ceases operations; all employees let go.

A magazine for the middle class, focusing on reportage and photojournalism.

• Print magazine

  Weekly (later biweekly) socio-political magazine focusing on reportage and photojournalism.

• Website rusrep.ru

  Online platform for articles and multimedia content.

1. 1Wikidata entry for Russkij reportiorwikidata.org
2. 2Russian Wikipedia article «Русский репортёр»ru.wikipedia.org