Updated Tuesday, Nov. 9, 15h, Moscow, Russia
TAKEAWAY: Getting ready to create the new chapter in the life of a memorable Russian newspaper: Moscovskiye Novosti PLUS: Although the iPad has not made an official entrance into Russia yet, one would not know it based on the number of iPads seen in restaurants and offices. AND: Links and commentary on items of interest
New birth for a memorable Russian title
Moscovskiye Novosti was founded 1980 and closed in 2008: it influenced a generation of readers during the days of Gorbachev and perestroika. It will start as a daily in 2011
You could say that it was a newspaper with perfect historical timing on its side.
The Moskovskiye Novosti (Russian: ?????????? ???????, Moscow News) was established as a weekly in 1980 the start of the decade that defined the end of the cold war. And, of course, MN encouraged and reported about the cold war thaw that began to take hold in 1985. The early 1980s were the incubating period for the dramatic events that came later. Rapid changes in Soviet leadership became the MN’s weekly cover story, complete with analysis and commentary. Leonid Brezhnev, who had led the Soviet Union since 1964, died in 1982 and was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, a former head of the KGB. Andropov died in 1984 and was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko. who was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev, who at fifty-four years of age was part of a new generation of Soviet leaders.
In Gorbachev, the MN found the perfect leader to reach the finish line. MN became synonymous with perestroika. Every memger of the new MN team tells the story proudly. Here is how a journalist described the influence of the MN to me today:
“People would drive from outside of Moscow simply to get their copy of the weekly MN. They did not wish to miss the reportages, commentary, analysis that was so enlightening, so different from the dose of propaganda.”
RIA Novosti editor in chief Svetlana Mironyuk discusses the project:
“For me it’s a very exciting and important moment. I believe that the newspaper will happen. It cannot not happen. There is so much energy, it is the spirit and life associated with so many people – it simply must be a happy newspaper.”
Even in Soviet times, somehow the MN journalists always enjoyed a greater freedom, which they put to good use. In an interview celebrating the weekly’s 30th anniversary, Vitaly Tretyakov, editor-in-chief of the MN from 1988 through 1999 and 2006 through 2007, looked back on the paper’s history and the part he played in it, emphasizing how much freer his journalists were than most in the Soviet Union:
The launch of the Russian-language Moskovskiye Novosti was, indeed, a momentous event. Those who worked within the Novosti system in the Soviet era know that Novosti journalists were much freer professionally than their counterparts working for periodicals intended for domestic publication. Many sensitive subjects were declared taboo even for extremely privileged publications such as Pravda and Izvestia. But these subjects could be discussed in Novosti’s foreign-language periodicals, and Moskovskiye Novosti became the first Russian-language periodical to share that privilege.
The MN was closed on January 1, 2008. Now RIA Novosti makes plan to launch it as a daily, starting February 2011. Historic pride and faith in the future describe how the team of the new MN feels as they plan the rebirth of this legendary Russian journalistic icon.
The rebirth of Moskovskiye Novosti
It is easy to make that pride contagious, and that is the way I feel as I continue to develop prototypes and to discuss ideas with a team of talented editors for the new MN, headed by editor in chief, Vladimir Gurevich, a busy man these days, recruiting staff, outlining content strategies and content flow, reviewing the prototypes that my Garcia Media team has prepared. And there are about 30 logo variations to look at, created by our ally in the process, the great Jim Parkinson, perhaps the world’s most prolific logo designer and brand creator, based in San Francisco, and with whom I have had a professional association going more than three decades.
We are definitely saluting the rich past of the Moskovskiye Novosti , but we place great emphasis on the future, treating every step of the planning as we would if we were creating a brand new newspaper for a new era, not only for Russians, but for media consumers.
The MN project includes all four platforms: mobile, online, print and iPad app. Readers will be able to access the MN content when they wish, as they wish.
Even our logo considerations are all brand new. Jim Parkinson and I have discussed the historical aspects of the project, but without handcuffing ourselves to an image of what the logo was like.
This is, after all, a new daily newspaper for Russia and the world. Its online and app editions will offer it to a global audience.
The goal is to create the great Russian daily, proud of its heritage, but also savvy and aware of how people consume information in a multimedia world.
We are now in phase two of the project: presentation of four different prototypes, philosophical discussions, a hand on the history book of the MN, a firm hand on the book we are all writing about what it is to do good storytelling in a rapidly changing and challenging world.
Stay tuned, this is a developing story in TheMarioBlog.
Russians waiting for “official” iPad launch
RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency, has its own iPad app
Unofficially, the report is that there are about 50,000 iPads already in circulation here in Russia. But, officially, Apple’s new toy should come out “sometime in November”. Nobody seems to have a precise date, but the expectations are high. And, no, there are no Apple stores in Russia——yet. This surprised me, as I see many iPhones in the streets, cafes, offices, and everyone around me in the RIA Novosti building seems to carry an iPhone.
Those who do not get their iPad while travelling abroad are said to pay in excess of US$2000 for one, a steep price, but perhaps worth it for those who can’t wait for the official launch, whenever that happens.
Few newspapers have joined the world of iPad apps. In fact, the most notable Russian entry into iPad land is Cosmopolitan magazine, Russian edition. RIA Novosti , the Russian press agency, also has an iPad app already available.
Reed reviews recent stories of interest
Our intern, Reed Reibstein (Yale University, ‘11), offers us his insights on some news of interest:
Review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/01/samsung-galaxy-tab-review/.
“After spending the last couple of days with the Galaxy Tab, we can confidently say it’s the best Android tablet on the market. Now, that’s not saying much given the state of the Android competition, but we can also assuredly say that the Tab is the first true competitor to Apple’s iPad. Its crisp display, compact form factor, touch-friendly software and dual cameras undoubtedly have what it takes to win over the average tablet seeker. However, we still have some reservations right now. Google hasn’t yet provided any direction on Android as a tablet platform, which means that the Tab is held back by lagging application support and software that doesn’t fully take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Remember, that when the iPad launched many developers were already working on tablet specific apps and Apple had an iPad app store in place…. [B]ut for now it looks like the saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab still has several chapters to go.”
The Washington Post launched its iPad app.
Ron Reason wrote on Twitter that he liked it, and Sam Berlow tweeted that Font Bureau was involved in adapting the print typefaces to the tablet screen. The section fronts break the mold of iPad grid-based designs by making certain stories and images larger than others—quite a welcome effect. But I find the design of the article pages to be strangely cluttered. One neat idea not to be missed: the “live topics” at the bottom of each page, in which Post editors combine their stories about a big news topic with tweets, Facebook comments, and articles from other publications. (The NYT did something similar on its website homepage a year or so ago, but it was too chaotic in design and was abandoned.)
Roger Black’s Treesaver platform debuts:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/treesaver/tuna/.
After Ready-Media and Webtype.com, the third Roger Black project appears. Treesaver really is very cool—the design has a magazine-like feel on your laptop and adapts to whatever device you use. So on your mobile phone, the pictures disappear but the text remains, while on your iPad the pages reformat on the fly as you switch orientations. Likely to be marketed as an alternative to specialized apps (since it works on any device), this is definitely worth watching. More here: http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/2655/.
At The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Publisher Greg Osberg discusses some of his initiatives for the Philly papers and Philly.com:
http://technicallyphilly.com/2010/11/03/ceo-inquirer-to-host-startup-incubator-next-year. He indicated that there will be changes in the editorial direction of all three organizations to combat declining revenue.
Page of the Day: Bild Zeitung
The headline from Bild Zeitung says it all: The Duel of the Lolitas. The MTV Europe Awards took place in Madrid, Nov. 7 and Bild’s photo story——16 photos in a rather small space, count them—-centers on the young pop stars who took to the stage and the inner fights between them.